Plastilene Group joins forces with DOW and Avina Foundation

The organizations collaborated to build a multifunctional warehouse in Suba.

It will serve more than 300 waste pickers to perform their sorting work safely during COVID-19 pandemic.

In the framework of the International Day of the Recycler, and with the objective of extolling the important work performed by grassroots waste pickers in the country, more than ever in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, Dow together with Plastilene Group and with the support of the Avina Foundation joined forces to sustain “Dame tu Mano” (Give me your Hand), a network of environmental waste pickers dedicated to environmental, social and community work in about 11 localities of Bogota.

The main objective of the alliance was to build a 200 m2 tunnel-type multipurpose building in which the waste pickers will be able to correctly isolate waste that may be contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 virus, thus providing greater safety in their waste recycling work and protecting their health and well-being.

The facility, located in Suba, has been in operation since February 2021 and will benefit more than 326 waste pickers who make selective collection in areas of Bogota. The building will be able to store an average of 100 tons of usable waste such as plastic, cardboard, paper and aluminum, on a rotating basis, to give quarantine compliance to the materials to be recycled.

“COVID-19 pandemic brought with it new challenges and the possibility of finding new opportunities to continue making a positive impact on our environment. With this donation we confirm our commitment to circular economy and the entire value chain, highlighting the role of waste pickers as actors who play a decisive role in our society and who need more tools to dignify their trade, thus generating social inclusion and environmental and economic development. At Dow, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have reinforced our commitment to the industry, our people, customers and suppliers, demonstrating that despite physical distance, we are closer than ever,” said Juan Pablo Contreras, General Manager of Dow Colombia.

“At Plastilene Group we work with all the actors in the chain to make plastics circular economy possible. We cooperate with waste pickers to strengthen their work, improve their quality of life and thus increase collection and transformation rates in the country. This year we started up a post-consumer plastic processing 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,” commented Ricardo Estrada, Sustainability Manager of Plastilene Group.

“From  Avina Foundation as coordinator of Latitud R we share the concern and decision to prioritize the safety and health of grassroots waste pickers, who participate in the recovery and differentiated collection circuits and have kept their operations active in the midst of the COVID -19 pandemic. This has led us to direct resources to waste pickers’ organizations to cushion the impacts they are currently facing, and to support initiatives such as the one we are announcing today, which has allowed us to provide the necessary infrastructure to comply with and reinforce the biosecurity measures necessary to take care of them and the citizens” expressed Jadira Vivanco, Latitud R’s Coordinator for Colombia and Central America.

The infrastructure built with an investment of US$10 thousand will have an average useful life of two years, during which time its impact will be measured through the quantification of the metric tons of different materials placed in isolation during its operation.

This project is in line with the continuous investments and activities that the industry is carrying out to pave the way towards a circular economy of plastic waste, where recycling is an essential part.