Confluence between solidarity economy, solidarity selective collection and solidarity environmental education

Abstract

In Brazil, Federal Decree No. 5.940/06 institutes the separation of recyclable solid waste generated by federal public agencies, including higher education institutions, and its destination to associations and cooperatives of waste pickers, in a practice called solidary selective collection. In this sense, this article presents an analysis of solidary selective collection from a perspective that proposes it as solidary environmental education that articulates culture, work and politics converging with the principles defended in the field of Solidarity Economy, based on socio-environmental and educational actions developed in higher education federal institutions. The methodological strategy involved data from a master’s research in association with bibliographic research. The results show that institutional solidary selective collection programs can, through their actions, theoretically and practically articulate Environmental Education with Solidarity Economy and produce quality knowledge with the provision of public service in urban cleaning. It is concluded that solidary selective collection together with Solidarity Economy can socially and economically strengthen bonds between human beings and work, and can foster praxis and raise epistemological reflections that serve as alternatives to the current scientific-technological, socio-political and economic standart.