The use of new technologies in safety and health protection of waste pickers

Abstract

Solid waste production grows annually, reaching 2.2 billion tons per year in 2025. While in some developed countries more than 60% of the waste is sent to landfills, in developing countries the destination is still observed from waste to landfills or open burning, while concern about recycling remains without consolidated government actions or other mitigating actions. In countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, recycling is carried out by recyclers or urban recyclers, informal workers who take up this activity due to unemployment and poverty in these regions. Due to the problems involved in the entire collection and recycling process, it is essential to use technologies that favor the professional practice of collectors of recyclable materials, combining popular knowledge with scientific technical knowledge, social organization and society participation, of better health and occupational conditions for this range of society. Thus, a systematic review is proposed to identify the use of technologies that contribute to the improvement of the health and safety conditions of solid waste handlers after their conventional disposal. So, following the preferential reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P), this systematic review protocol was developed with the objective of presenting suitable guidelines for the development of a research that can provide results to meet the goal sought. Five databases will be accessed (SCOPUS, PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCOhost and Web of Science) and a total of 9 keyword combinations will be used.