Announcing the CARE Project: Enhancing Circularity and Empowering Waste Pickers

30 January 2025

ASI is proud to announce the launch of the CARE: Collective Action for Recycling and Empowerment project, which kicked off with a successful inaugural meeting on 22nd January 2025. This initiative aims to enhance circular economy practices by integrating informal waste pickers into formal recycling markets, aligning with global responsible recycling principles and standards.

The CARE project, focused on Colombia, is supported by an international coalition of partners, including Compromiso Empresarial para el Reciclaje (CEMPRE), the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), Canpack, Crown Holdings, the Roundtable on Responsible Recycling of Metals (RRRM), Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), and Associação Brasileira do Alumínio (ABAL). By fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders—waste pickers, SMEs, local authorities, and corporate entities—the project seeks to create scalable and inclusive aluminium recycling solutions.

Over the next 12 months, the CARE project will have three main goals:

1. Stakeholder mapping and diagnostics: Conducting a comprehensive study of Colombia’s aluminium recycling value chain to identify gaps and opportunities for market formalization and traceability.
2. Training and capacity building: Developing targeted training sessions for waste pickers and recycling organizations, focusing on labour formalization, health and safety, and human rights awareness.
3. Collective action strategies: Integrating the project into existing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) platforms like Movimiento Re and Reciclar tiene valor. By leveraging these platforms, the project aims to enhance collaboration, efficiency, and traceability in recycling value chains.

The kick-off meeting highlighted the relevance of knowledge-sharing and leveraging local expertise to achieve the project’s goals. Key topics included:

• The importance of engaging waste pickers in Bogotá and Barranquilla, two cities with strong foundations in recycling practices and infrastructure.
• Insights from CEMPRE’s existing work in Colombia, which has helped formalize and empower thousands of waste pickers.
• Plans for aligning the project with global standards and addressing local challenges, such as informality and equitable income distribution.

We are excited to embark on this journey with our partners and look forward to sharing the progress and learnings from this initiative. For more information, contact Gabriel Carmona Aparicio, Circularity Research Manager at ASI.

This project is possible thanks to a grant from the ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and UK International Development from the UK government.

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