Recycling in Peru: How Circular Economy Solutions Are Driving Change
A pilot program to strengthen waste-recovery businesses in Peru’s capital isn’t just solving environmental challenges: it’s creating economic opportunity.
“Offering the opportunity for stable, formal jobs with a career path motivates us every day,” said Chara Alcedo. Chara is the director of management at Sinba, a waste-recovery intermediary in Lima’s southern outskirts that employs 61 people–the majority of them youth.
That motivation drove Chara and Sinba’s leaders to the Green Jobs pilot program, a partnership between the Anglo American Foundation and TechnoServe designed to help the recycling sector create economic opportunity and tackle Peru’s solid waste challenges. Over the course of a year, the pilot studied the opportunities and gaps in the recycling industry in Peru’s two largest cities, Lima and Arequipa, and provided entrepreneurship support to three waste-recovery intermediaries, including Sinba.
A new video details the work of the Green Job pilots and highlights the entrepreneurs, workers, and waste reclaimers who are creating change in Peru’s recycling sector.
The Urgent Need for Recycling in Peru
According to the Peruvian government, some 500,000 people across the country economically depend on the recycling sector.
Despite the sector’s prominence, however, waste disposal remains a significant challenge in the country. According to some estimates, less than 2% of the solid waste generated in the country is recycled through formal channels. Instead, waste often ends up in landfills, illegal dumping grounds, or burned.
Inside Peru’s Green Jobs Pilot
TechnoServe and the Anglo American Foundation launched the Green Jobs pilot in February 2024 to address this challenge. TechnoServe’s team engaged entrepreneurs, governments, and civil society organizations involved across the sector to identify the key obstacles and opportunities. It also selected three waste-recovery intermediaries with which to work closely: Sinba, as well as two smaller companies, Thicaa and Suka, which employ 15 and seven people, respectively.
Over the course of nearly a year, TechnoServe worked with these businesses to understand their challenges and develop an action plan for each company, focusing on strengthening their financial management, logistics, human resources, and operations. These plans included training on key business concepts, developing tools adapted to their specific needs, designing business processes, and crafting manuals.
The businesses have already adopted several significant changes. For example, as a result of the support, one business was able to provide all of its workers formal employment, and another has been able to formalize three quarters of its workforce. Implementing better labor practices has enabled the companies to comply with regulations and avoid costly fines. Improved administrative, human resources, and operating procedures have allowed the businesses to operate more efficiently.
The Impact of Recycling Programs and Partnerships
Ultimately, by adopting these practices, the businesses should be able to grow, taking more waste off the streets, providing better opportunities for individual waste reclaimers, and creating more jobs for young people.
It is because of these impacts that TechnoServe works with partners around the world to strengthen the recycling sector and catalyze the growth of the circular economy. In South Africa, for example, TechnoServe and the Anglo American Foundation have partnered with R Labs and GreenCape to strengthen recycling value chains and create quality jobs for young people in township communities.
Toward a Sustainable Waste Future
Back in Peru, Sinba employee Alex Acuña explained why the sector’s growth matters to him. “This job is important to me because now I have a formal job and can fulfill a dream–studying and contributing to my family,” he said.
Chara added, “In this circular economy, generating a formal job gives us hope for better opportunities for growth and development in the country.”
