About the project

Our recycling stations aim to provide both residents and visitors, spaces to dispose of in an orderly manner the waste generated in the community, or collected on the beaches.

Structures made out of 100% recycled plastic lumber, located in strategic points for both community members and tourists. We’ve successfully placed 18 recycling stations in five different communities along the Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic coasts of Colombia. 

 

These regions, renowned for their ecological richness, have faced significant plastic pollution challenges.  Our stations are reducing the amount of waste that gets burned or buried introducing the concept of recycling to inhabitants and tourists.

 

check out all our operation station adventures here:

link to blog posts  

https://ecopazifico.org/blog/

Last stations installed

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about the recycling stations

In the pacific Juanchaco and Ladrilleros:

  • Plastic
  • Glass
  • Metal
  • Icopor

Much of this material has been transported by @armadacolombia to Buenaventura, and donated to different groups of recyclers.

Although glass is a recyclable material, it is not commercial in Colombia.
We are quoting glass pulverizers, so that we can reduce its volume and use it as sand in construction. In the meantime, we are storing it at collection points.

Icopor is a recyclable material, but only in the city of Bogotá.
Moving these volumes to the interior of the country from a remote, coastal community is not cost-effective.

 

Students from the national university are doing research to transform it in the territories.

Metal is one of the easiest materials to sell and transport. Almost all remote communities in Colombia have at least one scrap metal dealer who moves it to the interior of the country and sells it if it is profitable.

Because it is a humid area, the cardboard gets wet very easily, it is almost impossible to move it in good condition to the interior of the country. This has led us to make it part of the territory’s organic waste group.

The entire population is asked to dig a hole in a shady place in their garden and deposit all their organic waste there, covering it with leaves and sticks.

  • Pacific: the population is asked to burn it on their own properties and not on public beaches.
  • Caribbean: Veolia collects this waste 3 times a week and takes it to the sanitary landfill in Cartagena.
  • Atlantic: Jacasep collects them 3 times a week and transfers them to the Capurganá open dump.

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