Jardim Gramacho (Gramacho Gardens in English) is a neighborhood in the city of

Duque de Caxias Duque is a Spanish surname meaning "duke". People Notable people with the name include: * Jaime Enrique Duque Correa (1943–2013), Colombian Roman Catholic bishop * Andrés Duque (21st century), American activist * Carlos Duque (1930–2014), Pa ...

and the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Landfill

Jardim Gramacho was the site of one of the largest

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

s in the world. It closed in June 2012 after 34 years of operation. The dump was started on an ecologically-sensitive

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

in the 1970s adjacent to

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói and ...

. The Associação dos Catadores do Aterro Metropolitano de Jardim Gramacho (Association of Collectors of the Metropolitan Landfill of Jardim Gramacho) is an organization of "pickers" who sort through waste in the landfill, finding recyclables as a means of survival. The 2010 film '' Waste Land'' documented two years of work by Brazilian contemporary modern artist

Vik Muniz Vik Muniz (; born 1961) is a Brazilian artist and photographer. Initially a sculptor, Muniz grew interested with the photographic representations of his work, eventually focusing completely on photography. Primarily working with unconventional ma ...

in creating art with the co-operation of the recycling pickers at the landfill.

References

Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro Guanabara Bay Geography of Rio de Janeiro (state) Landfills in Brazil {{RiodeJaneiro-geo-stub

Landfill

See also

References