Supporting Waste Pickers: moving towards increased sustainability in Ecuador

In an effort to achieve a plastics circular economy in Ecuador, at Grupo Plastilene we decided to support greenhouse plastics waste pickers and create partnerships with them. All of this with the goal of ensuring the responsible management of this waste.

As a greenhouse plastics manufacturer, Agroplásticos ensures that the material is properly disposed of at the end of their life. This is only made possible through the partnerships with the farms that give their waste to waste pickers, who Plastilene considers allies, and has supported in organizing. Ultimately this system ensures that there will be proper traceability and a responsible end of life to the material.

Supporting local businesses and exportation of materials

All the work is done by waste pickers from collecting, to transporting, storing, and transforming. Alongside all this, they support local farms that help expand the reach of circular initiatives like these outside of Ecuador;  a good amount of postconsumer plastic is exported to Peru.

Supporting family owned businesses

The majority of waste pickers involved in this project are family owned businesses. The technology and PPE Agroplásticos has been able to give them is invaluable. Our support starts showing results once there is a positive level of waste captured at farms and when we see we promote a culture that values environmental responsibility.

By supporting local waste pickers we not only move towards a more sustainable future, but all parties involved reap the economic and social benefits.

Neptalí Sampedro and Álvaro Sampedro, who represent the company Reciclaje Sampedro, and Agroplásticos joined forces to ease the capture of postconsumer plastics from some flower farms. We provided them with a plastic grinder and PPE for their employees. Reciclaje Sampedro committed to certify the monthly pickup of their plastic waste starting 2024 and properly transform it into new products.

On the other hand, Luis Emilio Sánchez, a waste picker with vast experience in the recycling sector, is another great partnership we have established. This partnership includes the creation and adaptation of storage spaces through donations of metal coverings for their plot of land in Ascázubi, Cayambe. This infrastructure will ease collection, classification, and storage of greenhouse plastic waste. Sánchez also committed to provide their corresponding certificates that prove their adequate management of the waste collected.

Members of Expoflores

Agroplásticos is motivated to continue working alongside these farms in the region to increase the capacity of collection of greenhouse plastic waste. Doing so through partnerships, and to guarantee that no plastic waste is disposed of incorrectly or informally.