El Tren Cartonero

Jonattan and Nahuel

Plenty has been written about the dilapidated trains that haul cardboard recyclers or cartoneros to and from Buenos Aires everyday. The term, of course, is a reference to the men, women and (very often) children who scour the city everyday looking for cardboard and other items that can be recycled for cash at factories an hour or two away in Buenos Aires Province.

The trains run at different hours in different parts of the city. But for the most part they run in the dark of the night, without any interior lighting or police protection. They are, passengers like Jonattan and Nahuel say, “dangerous and depressing.” I boarded one of the trains recently and thought I’d post some of the photos.

Nahuel & Jonattan working for cash at the Obelisco, 7:14pm, Sunday.

They’ve just gotten into town from Varela in the province. Every night they wash windows until around 11pm. The next train back to Varela leaves at 3am, so until then they hit the streets collecting cardboard and other things before heading home.

Once they’re ready to go home, they line up their their goods and get ready to board the train. According to a policeman I spoke with, some passengers travel as many as 100 kilometers through the night to reach the recycling centers. The centers pay about 15 centavos/kilo for cardboard and up to 30 centavos for newspaper. Glass bottles go for as much as 60 centavos/kilo, say the passengers who talked with me.

Loading the train.  

 

 

Inside there are no lights, no seats and often no doors or windows. Just darkness and an unsettling combination of humor and desperation. “It’s ugly,” says Alan, a 13 year-old from Varela. “I don’t like it.”

The train stops long enough for people to load their stuff, not all of which easily fits. But there are no weight limits on this train. Whatever fits goes.

A moment of relaxation for some and a demonstration of anger from another as the train starts moving. (Look closely and you’ll see somebody giving me the middle finger. ) As the train moves, it leaves behind the light of the train station and the police protection that comes with it. This is the most dangerous part of the night.

Alan will get home sometime after 3am. “I get home and sleep till 7am. Then I get up and go to school till 11am. Then I go back home to sleep until I have to catch the train, to be in town again by 7pm. We come everyday. It’s a long ride.”

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