PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2013

EDITOURS REPORTS 22 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 09/13 www.petpla.net tems for the collection of recyclables such as cardboard, paper, aluminium, glass and PET. Subsequently, organic waste, electrical waste and batteries have been added. Collection of the waste is carried out within the zones using a part-time workforce who can earn up to 500 Bolivianos (€55) a month. As a benchmark, the minimum wage in Bolivia is currently around 1,000 Bolivianos (approx. €110 euros) per month. Every year around 450,000t of waste arrives unsorted at the landfill site in La Paz alone. It is by educating the public, and by highlighting suc- cessful neighbourhood projects that entrepreneurs hope to be able to convince municipalities and ultimately the country as a whole that collecting and separating waste is infinitely preferable to dumping it in landfill. Unsurprisingly, not everyone agrees. Private waste collection companies are unhappy. They have been netting more than 100 million Bolivianos (around €11million) for collecting and transport- ing the waste to landfill sites from La Paz alone. If local entrepreneurs succeed in establishing a waste collection and recycling system, the private companies stand to lose 77% of their income (see graph). The stakes are high. Collecting recyclables in the neighbourhood zones. The col- lector goes from door to door and picks up the recyclables. The swisscontact initiative doesn’t stop there. In addi- tion to their ongoing discussions with administrative bodies, the organisation is also keen to support individuals and companies who re-use recyclables by providing benefits in kind. Thus printer cartridges recyclers or construction waste treatment companies are beginning to emerge. One interesting result of these developments is the processing of PET bottles into brooms for sweeping the streets. Ecovecindarios has also set up waste collection points for PET bottles at central locations. After four years, Phase 1 of the project has now been completed and Ecovecindarios is launching Phase 2. Phase 1 concentrated on actually getting the waste col- lected and separated, now, in Phase 2, they are placing more emphasis on educating senior managers in both municipalities and state government on the virtues of waste separation. The overriding aim as part of the project is to support and give encouragement to those entrepreneurs who exert a major influence on the environment. In prosaic terms, collecting batteries is a lot more important than making jewellery out of crown caps. Working at grass roots level will also enable swisscontact to extend the scope of the project. For example, they are fostering initiatives as diverse as the importance of saving water to promoting the health benefits of cycling. Total amount of refuse collected in La Paz: 450,000t 23% residual waste 2% PET 3% glass 7% paper 8% plastic 55% organic 2% metals