“El olor nos lleva”:1 Ecological Identities as a Process of Socio-Cultural Recognition of the “Recuperadores” of Presidente Regional Landfill (San Pedro, Valle Department)

By means of environmental anthropology and ethnography, this article describes the formation of the institutionalized ecological identity of the “recuperaters” in Presidente Regional Landfill in San Pedro, Valle Department. It shows how environmental discourses, by ascribing identities to people who work in the landfill, obscure their roles. “Recuperators,” by contrast, openly discuss and think about the importance of their job. They have been forging an identity of resistance, or a political identity, through the social memory of enduring regressive policies, such as law 1259 of 2008, legally permitted by Colombia’s 1991 constitution. In this way, they propose alternatives, such as their social organization, to “struggle” for their right to recycle in the face of a growing interest by domestic and multinational companies in turning “garbage” into a business.