![##common.pageHeaderLogo.altText##](https://periodicos.ufmg.br/public/journals/58/pageHeaderLogoImage_pt_BR.png)
Building effective public policies to combat poverty and inequality requires the organization of mechanisms which give voice to excluded groups, the modification of legal codes and changes in legislation based on the reality of these subjects. With this in mind, the present article shows a successful case of recognition and inclusion of waste pickers between 2001 and 2016. During this period, public policies aimed to improve the inclusion of waste pickers had a significant qualitative leap. In this paper, we argue that this leap was the result of a combination of three factors: (i) the organization of the National Movement of Waste Pickers (MNCR); (ii) expansion and priority to the forums of interaction between waste pickers and the Federal Government, with direct, predictable and constant contact between the social movement and the main authority of the Executive Branch; and (iii) the inclusion of waste pickers as an institutional actor, either in the National Solid Waste Policy (Law No. 12.305 of 2010) and in the sectoral agreement on packaging.