Severino Lima Junior, a grassroots waste picker from the COOCAMAR Cooperative located in Natal-RN has been involved in waste picking since he was a teenager, starting out in the city’s old rubbish dump, founding the ASCAMAR and COOCAMAR organizations that began the work of door-to-door selective collection in the municipality of Natal. together with leaders from various states in Brazil, the MNCR National Movement of Waste Pickers with a major meeting in Brasilia in 2001. Brasília in 2001, thus holding the first national meeting of waste pickers. collectors of recyclable materials, which gave rise in 2016 to the organization UNICATADORES National Union of Waste Pickers of Brazil currently affiliated with the IAWP INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WASTE PICKERS, carries out various activities of national and international relevance. activities of national and international relevance, together with leaders from Chile and Colombia build the RED LACRE Latin American and Caribbean Network of Waste Pickers. with the participation of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
He is a delegate member of the IAWP, nominated by the Brazilian delegation to participate in the UNEA conferences on the International Plastics Treaty, and has been very active in the INC meetings.
Severino has participated in the plastics treaty negotiations known as INCs (Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee). As a delegate and IAWP representative at INC-3 and INC-4, he received a registration badge from the Brazilian government, giving him a voice among the Brazilian negotiators. He also worked with the government to organize an event in collaboration with the International Alliance of Waste Pickers. of Waste Pickers at the INC-4 negotiations in Nairobi. Receiving a badge from the Brazilian government as part of the official delegation to attend the INCs and then organizing an event in collaboration with the Brazilian government, is a testament to the fact that he is a strong leader with good negotiating skills.
Participating on behalf of UNICATADORES Brazil in the latest ILO International Assembly held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, where together with sister networks STREET NET, FITH and HOMENET he has been seeking an alliance to build the INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WORKERS AND WORKERS OF THE SOLIDARY CIRCULAR ECONOMY within the precepts of the Just Transition. Just Transition.
It is currently coordinating the participation of waste pickers in the COP 30 climate conference to be held in Brazil in 2025 in the city of Belém, which is part of the Brazilian AMAZONIA Brasileira with the aim of promoting greater participation by waste pickers in this important international event.
