Brazil State Bank to Lend Recyclers 225 Mln Reais, Lula Says

Brazil’s state development bank will lend 225 million reais ($127.6 million) over two years to groups representing self-employed people who collect recyclable materials, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.

Lula, speaking in his weekly radio program today, didn’t specify what the loans from the bank, known as BNDES, would be used for. He said the government has sent Congress a bill he expects to pass soon that would regulate the collectors’ activities.

“These people bring an extraordinary benefit to society,” Lula said.

As of November 2008, 230,000 individuals were collecting recyclable materials on Brazil’s streets, according to Agencia Brasil, the official government news agency.

Known in Portuguese as “catadores,” or “collectors,” the recyclers can be seen on the country’s streets at all hours, pushing their two-wheel carts.

Engineers from the Itaipu hydroelectric plant have developed an electric cart that will be manufactured and marketed by the collectors, Lula said.

The president also urged local authorities to promote the individual recyclers’ work instead of suppressing them and turning over collection of recyclables to waste-handling companies.