UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

PEI supports Uruguay to recycle waste into livelihoods
22% of Montevideo’s citizens live below the poverty line, and one third of these households are located in irregular settlements. Around 30,000 people participate in an informal recycling sector, gathering trash from the landfill or from the street, separating it, and selling it in the informal market, exposed to serious health and environmental problems. UNDP and UNEP worked with the national and municipal government to develop a pilot plan to bring these informal workers into the formal sector and create a social safety net. One result was the creation of a 21-member cooperative recycling programme which enabled informal recyclers to become part of the formal recycling sector, creating access to social protection, improved salaries and training on hygienic ways of dealing with waste and marketing. [Read more]