By Equipe de Redação
Posted in April 12, 2022
“For me, trash is a luxury.” The straightforward manner in which Telines Basílio, president of a waste pickers’ cooperative in São Paulo, refers to the focus of his own work is a clear example of the positive impact of circular economy principles. “Through what people call trash, I was able to change my life,” adds the leader of Coopercaps, which processes 30% of all selective waste collection in the city.
More than just preventing about 2,000 tons of waste from heading to landfills and polluting the environment, Coopercaps’ work represents the forefront of a reverse logistics process that reintegrates products originating from industries – the other end of the spectrum – into the economy, avoiding their inappropriate disposal.
Connecting these two ends, the waste management startup Boomera, which has become part of the Ambipar Group, offers alternatives for large companies to transform their previously valueless waste into useful products that benefit society, generating income possibilities for all parties involved and reducing the use of natural resources.
One example of Boomera’s actions is the discovery of a technique to transform complex plastics into high-performance recycled resin and new products, making them part of a circular process and preventing them from ending up in improper destinations such as landfills.
“We undertake projects that begin with reverse logistics programs, involving waste pickers’ cooperatives as fundamental agents in the collection and sorting process, and we go all the way to the transformation of new products on a large scale and high performance in our factories,” says Gui Brammer, CEO of Boomera.
By enabling circular economy principles through partnerships with more than 500 waste pickers’ cooperatives, which together comprise over 8,000 members nationwide, Boomera provides organizations with solutions that meet the new market demands, focusing on development and ESG indicators (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance).
One company that has recognized the circular economy movement is Dow, a leading supplier of plastic materials to the industry. The company relies on Boomera’s expertise to handle the entire industrialization process of resins, starting with the collection of materials from waste pickers’ cooperatives, and then incorporating its market knowledge into the process to create a high-performance recycled resin that can be used as raw material for various packaging items, such as detergent and shampoo bottles.
“We need to support this value chain,” says Nataly Acosta, Sustainability Manager for Dow’s plastics in Brazil. “That’s why we respect the cooperatives and value the work of recyclers.”
On the other end, the social benefit for Coopercaps’ waste pickers is tangible and measurable. According to Telines Basílio, around 20% of the collected material is plastic, which, in turn, represents 50% of the cooperative’s revenue. “This partnership has provided direct contact with the industry, and the results go straight into the pockets of the cooperative members,” says the president of Coopercaps.
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