Recicla con tu Reciclador

Postobón, Grupo Familia and Grupo Plastilene advance in their commitment to circular economy in Bogotá, strengthening the recycling sector.

• In 2021, Plastilene Group joins the Bogotá, Recicla con tu Reciclador (Recicla con tu Reciclador) program, created by Grupo Familia and supported by Postobón.
• The first stage of the program closed in 2020 and met 100% of its objectives. It represented the collection of 3,861 tons of usable material, preventing it from reaching landfills.
• In its second stage, with the arrival of Plastilene Group, collection is expected to increase by 35%, i.e. to 5,216 tons, thanks to increase in the management increase of flexible plastics.
• The program has sensitized nearly 900,000 people on recycling issues in the municipalities of Engativá, Fontibón, Puente Aranda, Santa Fe (International Center), Chapinero, Usaquén and Suba, areas where there is a greater presence of waste pickers in the capital city. Now it will also work in the municipality of Mosquera.
• In the next twelve months, Postobón, Grupo Familia and Plastilene GroupPlastilene Group will invest more than $523 million in this stage of the program.

Program, created by Grupo Familia and supported by Postobón, is entering a new phase in which Plastilene GroupPlastilene Group joins.

This alliance, a sign of the commitment of the three companies to circular economy, seeks to generate a recycling culture in Bogota by strengthening professional waste pickers and the associations that bring them together, with support of producers and processors, thus closing the cycle of recyclable materials.

“Bogotá, Recicla con tu Reciclador program has been a great experience that ratifies the commitment and leadership that we assume in Postobón with circular economy. Working in the country’s capital city on this issue is key and new allies arrival demonstrates once again that we must continue to join efforts with initiatives of this type,” said Martha Ruby Falla González, Postobón’s Sustainability Director.

After one year alliance between Postobón and Grupo Familia, which boosted Bogotá, Recicla con tu Reciclador program, the results were very satisfactory. In its first phase, the program managed 3,861 tons of materials such as PET, cardboard and paper, among others, increasing by 30% the collection of the impacted waste pickers’ associations. In this way, it was possible to reuse these materials in other productive processes, preventing them from reaching the sanitary landfill.

“From Grupo Familia through our Grupo Familia Foundation ®️ we have been working for more than 13 years to strengthen, formalize and dignify the professional recycler work, in addition to working on education and raising awareness in the communities about the importance of recycling and the leading role that professional waste pickers have within a circular economy. Today we are proud to make this purpose tangible in alliances such as Bogotá Recicla con tu Reciclador, where, for the second consecutive year, we managed to join efforts with different actors of the chain in favor of a higher goal: to strengthen circular economy for the country”, said Carolina Cossio, Grupo Familia’s Sustainability Director.

The program also benefited more than 190 waste pickerswaste pickers from three associations, who received training in customer service, associative growth, business management, transformation chains and environmental care. They also received more than 800 biosafety uniforms and protective gear, as well as a van and a compactor to facilitate their work. Warehouses infrastructure was also improved. We also raised awareness among nearly 900,000 users in homes, stores, institutions, companies and industries.

Now, with a joint investment of $523 million, the program is entering a second phase. With the arrival of Plastilene Group, a company that transforms plastics, waste pickers will be provided with technical training on flexible plastic and the possibility of managing and transforming recyclable materials in the program will be increased, with a projected growth of 35% by the end of this year, that is, reaching 5,216 tons used.

Ricardo Estrada, Plastilene Group Sustainability Manager emphasized that: “We firmly believe that the future of plastic packaging lies in circular economy. This year we started up a post-consumer plastic transformation plant that will allow us to transform close to 10,000 tons per year to give a second life to these materials and reincorporate them into the economy”.

In 2021, the program foresees the delivery of vehicles and machinery such as compactors and conveyor belts. Likewise, communication and awareness-raising actions will be increased among citizens about the importance of waste pickers, to facilitate their work and prevent usable waste from reaching sanitary landfills.

Bogotá, Recicla con tu Reciclador is a program that impacts the localities of Engativá, Fontibón, Puente Aranda, Santa Fe (Centro Internacional sector), Chapinero, Usaquén and Suba, in addition to the municipality of Mosquera, Cundinamarca, which was included for 2021. It is guided by activities focused on three basic pillars. First one, permanent training to the organizations of waste pickers of trade; second one, training waste pickers to educate citizens about their work; and, third one, seeking efficiencies that increase the rates of solid waste utilization to reincorporate them into circular economy, turning them into new bottles or new items.

Additional information:

Postobón and circular economy:

Postobón has a Circular Economy program, which is part of its sustainability model called Uno más Todos, (One plus All). This program is developed through initiatives focused on the design of containers and packaging with a life cycle, development of programs and projects aimed at strengthening the recycling chain, and the alignment with global needs, competitiveness and country policies in order to generate relevant circular economy schemes.

Postobón’s circular economy program has 25 initiatives that impact 10 departments and supports 4,200 waste pickers. Thanks to this program in 2020, Postobón achieved, among others, to have PET bottles such as the Cristal water bottle, made of 100% recycled material, i.e., made from other bottles. It also carried out the management 23,000 tons of usable material, which were reincorporated into production processes, emphasizing the creation of new containers and packaging, thus considerably reducing the use of virgin raw materials. By 2024, Postobón’s goal is to ensure the recycling of at least 50% of the packaging materials it places on the market.

Recycling with Purpose, part of Grupo Familia’s sustainability strategy:

Grupo Familia’s sustainability strategy is framed under three pillars: generating wellbeing, doing more with less and promoting circularity. Within this, Grupo Familia has the Recycling with Purpose program, led by its Foundation.

The company has worked for more than 13 years in the dignification and formalization of the work of waste pickers, as well as the promotion of a recycling culture. In the last year, it prevented 36,487 tons of usable material from reaching landfills. At the same time, it impacted more than 3,700 waste pickers from the perspective of inclusive recycling in rural projects and raised the awareness of 38,302 people in recycling culture at the urban level.

Plastilene Group and its sustainable commitment:

Plastilene Group has 42 years of experience in the transformation of recycled plastic products. It has a Sustainable Innovation Strategy, made up of nine management lines: customers, suppliers, environmental, portfolio, regulations and partnerships, social responsibility, financial, positioning and cycle closure.

In a permanent work with its stakeholders, it develops initiatives to promote circular economy from the eco-design of its packaging to the transformation of post-consumer plastic into new raw materials, including the strengthening of trade waste pickers and consumer education.

In 2020 it obtained Carbon Neutral certification, granted by Icontec, and went much further, as all its companies declared themselves climate positive as defined by Carbon Neutral Protocol. In 2021, it started up a new polyolefin transformation plant, which will be able to transform 10,000 tons of these materials per year to reincorporate them into the market.

As a contribution to SDG 17 (Partnerships to achieve the goals), and as a supplier of packaging for Postobón and Grupo Familia, Plastilene Group is working collectively to make plastic circular economy in Colombia become a reality.