Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires Bets on Recycling

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 4 2006 (IPS) - “Buenos Aires Recylces” is a new environmental program designed by the capital's government to process a progressively greater amount of the waste its residents produce. With this goal, the first plant for separating out materials will begin operating in March, in the central neighborhood of Flores, and will be managed by a cooperative of “cartoneros”, informal garbage collectors.

“We are very pleased. For more than two years we have been working on this,” Francisco Monzón, head of the Bajo Flores Ecological Cooperative for Recycling, told Tierramérica.

The more than 40 members of the project will recycle around 10 tons of waste per day, with the aim of reaching 120 tons, the maximum capacity of the site.

“We are the first cooperative with a plant of this size. It is an opportunity to prove that the cartoneros can organize,” added Monzón.