Arca Continental launches inclusive recycling program in Ecuador
Arca Continental, the second largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin America, launched its Development, Environment, Recycling (DAR in Spanish) program in Ecuador in order to promote a culture of inclusive recycling and boost its PET recovery efforts in the country. Based on the sustainability goals established by Arca Continental and Coca-Cola of collecting and recycling 100% of the primary packaging that goes out to the market by 2030, the program is aimed at creating better economic, social, and organisational conditions for base recyclers.
“The DAR program reinforces the efforts carried out over the past few years in countries where we have PET recycling programs in place. Resulting from these efforts, our product packaging in Ecuador contains 25% recycled resin”, explained Guillermo Adam, Director for Arca Continental Ecuador.
“Today, in collaboration with private companies, civil society, and the public sector we have handed to the National Network of Recyclers from Ecuador (RENAREC in Spanish) an initial collaboration of 2 trucks for transporting 2.8 tons of recyclable solid waste”, he added.
The pilot program will be implemented in Quito first, with plans to expand it to the rest of the country, benefiting more than 1.500 families of recyclers and increasing the collection of recyclable materials with local allies in the public and private sectors.
The presentation of the DAR program included the participation of the Mexican company, PetStar, the largest food grade PET recycling facility worldwide that is led by Arca Continental, Coca-Cola de México, and a group of bottlers in the Coca-Cola Mexican Industry.
