Background: Waste picking is essential to urban recycling systems in emerging economies, but it is often performed under informal conditions and high physical demands, especially when collection and transport rely on human-powered vehicles. Objective: To assess the ergonomic conditions of a solid-waste picker using a human-powered vehicle in Macapá, Amapá, Brazil. Methods: A mixed-methods single-case study ( n = 1) was conducted during two real work routes. Direct observation was combined with NASA-TLX, RULA, OWAS, and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Ethical approval was obtained from a competent Research Ethics Committee. Results: The worker reported high perceived workload, with a NASA-TLX global score of 85.33, mainly driven by physical demand, effort, and frustration. Observations showed frequent trunk and knee flexion, sustained pushing and pulling, and variable load handling under conditions of persistent mechanical instability of the cart. The representative posture showed trunk flexion of approximately 75°. Postural analysis indicated critical conditions, with a RULA score of 7 and OWAS action category 4. The NMQ revealed symptoms predominantly in the lower back, shoulders, and lower limbs. Conclusions: In this case, waste picking with a human-powered vehicle showed unfavourable ergonomic conditions. Persistent traction belt instability, inadequate load handling, and irregular terrain intensified physical demands. The findings support work redesign measures, including improvements in vehicle design and task organisation, to reduce biomechanical overload and support safer work in informal settings.

The valorization of agro-industrial residues and by-products can improve resource efficiency and circularity, but implementation depends on more than technical performance. This scoping review mapped application-oriented valorization routes, their distribution across sectors and scales, and the barriers, facilitators, gaps, and recommendations related to implementation. Following Joanna Briggs Institute guidance and PRISMA-ScR, the Web of Science Core Collection was searched without publication-period or language restrictions. Thirty peer-reviewed studies published between 1996 and 2026 were included. Vegetable oils and oilseeds accounted for 40.0% of the studies, while industrial or plant-level applications represented 30.0%. Energy-based strategies were the most frequent (26.7%), followed by biological and chemical or physicochemical approaches (20.0% each). Implementation was influenced by residue characteristics, production processes, infrastructure, costs, logistics, coordination, regulation, and information availability. Six interconnected implementation domains were identified: technical and operational; economic and financial; logistical; organizational and governance; regulatory and institutional; and scale-up, limitations, and recommendations. The findings indicate that scale-up requires integration of technical, operational, logistical, economic, governance, and institutional conditions. An implementation-oriented perspective is provided to support future assessments, industrial planning, and policy decisions toward circular agro-industrial systems.