Waste pickers coming together, an investment fund, and Grupo Plastilene building solutions together towards a circular economy

In Colombia, thousands of waste pickers go through the streets and neighborhoods every day collecting recyclable materials. Their work is essential to ensure a circular economy, but their reality remains mostly invisible to others.

Given this, we worked alongside LAGreen (an investment fund) and a space for waste pickers thought leaders from Bogotá and La Sabana to be heard. Our mission was clear: to identify the main struggles that they face and plan actions that can improve their wellbeing and strengthen the recycling system.

This meeting is part of a deeper partnership in which LAGreen has aided in promoting circular economy processes in Colombia. An example of this is the financing that allowed Reciclene to purchase a machine to improve the recycling process, efficiency, and the quality of the postconsumer plastic. Today this commitment extends to also listening to those who make this possible on the ground.

During the event five associations that work with Grupo Plastilene joined us:

• Nidia Salamanca – Asociación ARCA
• José Malagón – Asociación MYM
• Diana Herrera – Asociación ASOGREEN
• Marcela Ramos – Asociación RECITOC
• Alejandro Mendoza – Asociación Dame tu Mano

From LAGreen, Alina Buscher and Camila Silva were present, they shared our conviction that a circular economy cannot exist without dignified labor. We were joined by Jenifer Garrido, Reciclene ‘s polyolefins buyer, and Luisa Ribero, corporate sustainability director who represented Grupo Plastilene.

During the event it was clear that the majority of waste pickers are older adults, who face long work hours and perform strenuous physical labor every day. They often ride tricycles with as much as 300 kgs of material, while facing pain, vision impairments, and without access to adequate technology and transportation.

Additionally, barriers such as the requirement in some residential buildings of being up to date with certain health requirements, pensions, and workplace risks when accessing the buildings, this can become a challenge. Since waste pickers’ income is limited, they often have to make the decision between fulfilling these requirements and paying essential expenses such as rent and food.

It is understandable that many buildings require waste pickers to be up to date with certain things, such as their EPS, ARL, and their pension. However, a large part of these risks could be mitigated if consumers separated our waste properly. Broken glass, needles, open cans, and incorrectly separated waste can increase the risk that recyclers face every day.

The problem is that, because they often have a limited income, many of them cannot afford to pay for these demands and they still put themselves in danger to fulfill their role. This is why we not only just value and recognize their work, but we believe that it is essential to help support their safety and wellness by properly managing our waste.

During the event we also spoke about the challenges when it comes to vision health access. Many waste pickers wear glasses found amongst the waste they sort, since they can’t find prescription ones. However, the waste pickers associations are actively trying to cover this need: they organize visual health outreach events that gather a lot of participants.

Even though there is still room for growth in this area, there are still valuable projects that showcase the commitment of the industry to take care of the people that support it. The lack of resources has not weakened their work, but does reveal a social debt that is yet to be repaid.

We also discussed some key topics, such as the  need to use increased technology access, purchase adequate machinery, and the lack of separation infrastructure.

Lastly, the need to continue training has not only led to the strengthening of operational and administrative abilities, but it has also supported waste pickers to feel empowered and feel like their work deserves respect.

For waste pickers associations this has a positive impact, and allows them to improve the internal organization, the traceability of material, and how they’re perceived by society at large. Besides, we discussed the challenges of working alongside other vulnerable sectors of our society, such as houseless individuals and migrants, that share and at times compete in the same collection routes as waste pickers.

At Grupo Plastilene we believe that the circular economy has to include technology, industrial processes, and knowledge. However, it must also incorporate important topics such as justice, empathy, dignified work, and health and safety for everyone in the supply chain. This meeting was not an isolated event, but the first step from listening to transforming actions.

If you want to know more about this event, follow us on social media at @grupoplastilene to read all of our publications.