O ouro escondido: estudo de caso em uma cooperativa de reciclagem de resíduos eletrônicos

Abstract

Solid waste recycling cooperatives play a fundamental role maintaining life in society, despite they are marginalized by this very society. This work seeks to understand how the sustainability of an electronic waste recycling cooperative takes place, based on the analysis of the productive processes and strategies adopted by the organization, illuminated by the board's perspective. This qualitative research observed what are the main characteristics of electronic waste, and from a case study it sought to understand how's the operations of a cooperative that manages this type of material. A bibliographical research was carried out on the topic of electronic waste, as well as data collection in documents and articles related to the cooperative, in addition to field research carried out from an interview with its CEO. The results show that electronic waste has more market value compared to recyclable dry waste (plastics, paper, cardboard, etc.), but on the other hand it requires specialized management and a more complex infrastructure. The amount of waste obtained proved to be a factor directly related to the sustainability of the cooperative in economic terms. In this sense, putting into practice the cooperative principle of intercooperation presents itself as a possible increase in the e-waste volume received.