With the aim of sharing experiences in urban recycling policies, Latin American officials, business leaders, academics and activists met recently in Buenos Aires. The first International Forum and Congress on Recycling Policies in Big Cities, held Sep. 27-29, was organized by the Environment Ministry of the Buenos Aires City Government.

The idea was “to enrich the actions under way in cities like Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo,” Angel Varchetta, of the urban recycling policy office, told Tierramérica.

The gathering included presentations from Argentine, Brazilian, Colombian, Chilean and Uruguayan experts about waste management in big cities, and the challenges of differentiated recycling collection. There were also forums and training for the informal recycling collectors who are organized in cooperatives.