our work in this sector
Waste generation has increased massively around the world in recent decades, and there are no signs of it slowing down. By 2050, worldwide municipal solid waste generation is expected to have increased by roughly 70 percent to 3.4 billion metric tons.
What happens to this waste varies greatly from country to country, but we know that the rates of collection, recycling and landfill disposal are very low in developing countries.
However, we also know that there are millions of informal waste workers in the world, many of whom remove waste from the environment and sell it to recycling services to provide themselves for a small income.
BVRio creates market mechanisms which deliver social benefit for informal waste workers, while also addressing the global problem of a take–make-dispose linear economy.
Products and Services
We seek to create market mechanisms to increase economic efficiency and address market failures, and to support the use of market-based approaches to create liquidity to the mechanisms created.
Circular Action HUb
The home of BVRio global waste footprint solutions, The Hub incorporates a directory of local waste management projects and activities looking for support to fund, accelerate and strengthen a more effective and socially-responsible circular economy.
Circular Action Programmes (CAPS)
CAPs offer consumer goods companies a way to meet emerging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations in developing countries through the collection and sorting of waste by the informal sector.
KOLEKT APP
The world’s only multi country, multi-material solid waste trading app. The app is free to download, easy to use and most importantly, rewards waste collectors directly.
Circular Credits Mechanism
Our market tool to facilitate performance-based payments for the environmental services of collection (recovery), sorting and appropriate destination of recyclable waste materials.
Reverse Logistics Credits System
BVRio’s Reverse Logistics Credit system was successfully adopted in Brazil as a market mechanism to incentivise the collection, separation, and recycling of solid waste.
OPNRS
The Solid Waste Policy Observatory (OPNRS), is a multi-stakeholder information initiative to oversee implementation of the Brazilian Solid Waste Legislation.
Impact
Our vision is to deliver positive impacts for the economy, environment and people through the work that we do.
100+ waste recovery projects enrolled in our Circular Action Hub in 30+ countries
Projects have the potential to recover 550,000 tonnes/year of plastic waste from the environment
5,000+ individual waste pickers provided with an additional income
Multiple types of solid waste recycling supported including plastic, paper, metals, cartons, textiles
Current Initiatives
Over the next three years, BVRio will support the waste cooperative, ‘Coopama’, to implement an investment of $4 million Brazilian Reais to collect and sort recyclable solid waste from multiple facilities owned by the project’s funder. The overarching objective is to further develop the cooperative’s operations, raising their profile and financially benefiting its workers.
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Circular Beach
Circular Beach seeks to create a management model that can be replicated anywhere in the world for actions aimed at reducing plastic consumption and waste generation in tourist areas.
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Digital Waste Africa
A study and pilot project to establish if a digital waste management solution could improve waste collection and recycling in Southern Africa, starting with Angola and Mozambique.
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Ocean plastic recovery project involving Brazilian fishers
After a successful trial, our project in partnership with Italian social enterprise, Ogyre, to manage the removal of solid waste from Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, by local fishers, continues. The project sees the team of fishers removing plastic waste from the bay in their traditional fishing boats. Their plastic catch is registered and monitored through BVRio’s KOLEKT app.
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Carton Recycling Investment Programme
Often deemed hard to recycle, beverage cartons are the focus of this short pilot Circular Action Programme (CAP) for Tetra Pak in Vietnam which aims to recycle 3000 tonnes of cartons recovered from the environment by informal waste collectors.
Read morePREVIOUS INITIATIVES IN THIS AREA
Since 2012 BVRio has developed market mechanisms, products and initiatives in this area, contributed to public policy and been a advocate and delivery partner to others.
Increasing Recycling in Rio de Janeiro
Delivered by Circular Action, the project encouraged higher levels of recycling by households through collaboration with waste cooperatives using the KOLEKT waste app, and provided additional income to over 200 informal waste pickers.
PREVENT Waste Alliance pilot project
A project delivering social and environmental benefit to communities in Brazil and Mexico as part of an international consortium set up to tackle plastic waste.
3R Initiative
To catalyse zero plastic waste leadership, the 3R Initiative (3RI) developed a market-based approach that aims to scale up collection and recycling activities, and increase accountability for plastic waste reduction efforts around the world.
3RI Pilot Project
The pilot project involved the collection and recycling of plastic packaging collected by the producers partners in Indonesia.
3RI Pilot project
The pilot project involved the collection and recycling of plastic packaging collected by the producers partners in Indonesia.
Reverse Logistics Credits
Sourcing circular credits for Brazilian cosmetics company Boticario.
Reverse Logistics Credits
Sourcing circular credits for Brazilian soft drink manufacturer, Reflexa (Mineirinho).
Reverse Logistics Credits
Sourcing Circular Credits for Brazilian biscuit producer Biscoitos Piraquê.
Contact the Circular Economy team
Thierry Sanders
Director, Circular Action (Netherlands)
Maria Accioly
Circular Economy Specialist (Brazil)
Pedro Succar
Circular Economy Specialist (Brazil)
Juliana Miranda
Circular Economy Intern (Brazil)
