In an assessment of recycling statistics in Latin America, the United States-based National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) writes, “A study from the Inter-American Development Bank shows that only some two percent of total waste is recycled in the region,” leaving room for abundant growth in the sector.
NRDC Program Assistant Erika Moyer, in a May 2018 online essay, contends that “if the waste were to be separated properly before reaching landfills, almost 92 percent could be recycled.”
Moyer also cites statistics from the World Bank suggesting that about 430,000 tons of discarded materials are produced daily in Latin America, and that most of these materials end up in either informal landfills or municipal sanitary landfills.
The author points to the current role of landfill scavengers in Latin America, estimating some 4 million Latin Americans “live off recycling, earning their living by collecting and processing [materials] such as paper, plastic, glass and metal. These people, although they live in anonymity, are key players in the recycling process.”
Moyer writes that the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Recyclers is an organization that has been established “to unite recyclers’ organizations” in the region.
As things currently stand, “Not one country exceeds 15 percent” as its recycling rate, according to information cited by Moyer pertaining to recycling in seven Latin American nations: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.
In term of solutions, Moyer write, “I am convinced that education is the key to involving communities in projects, initiatives and campaigns to strengthen recycling systems. In addition, it is very important that authorities institute and improve public policies and incentives that regulate and encourage recycling.”
She points to efforts underway in Chile and Costa Rica as signs of encouragement.