Here are the 10 municipalities that recycle the most in Chile: check if yours is there

If you usually recycle what you use at home, such as paper boxes, plastic bottles, glass and other materials you use every day, maybe you have wondered more than once if your efforts are reflected in your community and your municipality. And it is that there are many houses and buildings in Chile that have a recycling system so that neighbors can do their part.

However, Producers are also responsible, such as companies, shops or restaurants, who must respect good waste management to contribute, from their sidewalk, to a more circular economy for the benefit of the environment and society.

In this line, kyklos a company B which seeks to promote environmental culture, carried out a study —in collaboration with We all recycle and the Chilean Association of Municipalities (AChM) — where analyzed 279 municipalities in the country to determine the total production of waste and the quantity of containers and packaging collected in each of them.

The community study on recovery, recycling and recovery, carried out by Kyklos, revealed that The municipalities in Chile that lead daily recycling per capita are:

1. futaleufu (Los Lagos area) with 0.14 kg. per day and per person
2. Zapallar (Valparaíso region) with 0.10 kg. per day and per person
3. alhued (Metropolitan Region) with 0.10 kg. per day and per person
4. Providence (Metropolitan Region) with 0.10 kg. per day and per person
5. vitacura (Metropolitan Region) with 0.9 kg. per day and per person
6. puchuncavi (Valparaíso region) with 0.9 kg. per day and per person
7. O’Higgins (Aysén region) with 0.7 kg. per day and per person
8. The Quisco (Valparaíso region) with 0.7 kg. per day and per person
9. St. Miguel (Metropolitan Region) with 0.6 kg. per day and per person
10. holy sunday (Valparaíso region) with 0.6 kg. per day and per person

—The study tells us about the ways municipalities need to implement changes to make things work, with a mixture of large capacity clean points, such as that of Vitacura, the green points of the square, all this in collaboration with the door-to-door collection”, declares The third the founder and director of the Kyklos studio, Javier Peró.

And it is that, according to Peró, the municipalities with the highest recycling rates are not necessarily those that spend the most. However, it highlights municipalities that have specific budgets for recycling, as they tend to have higher collection rates.

Furthermore, door-to-door collection seems to be a relevant success factor for recycling compared to the green dots.

— This could be due to user preferences. The lack of own points or the distance to them are usually the main reasons for not recycling. The curbside collection system brings recycling closer to homes and makes it easier for Chileans to join the system,” says Kyklos study manager Antonia González.

The study also revealed that in the year 2021, Among the 279 municipalities studied, 241,854 million Chilean pesos were spent annually on waste management i.e. an average of 867 million per municipality.

“The Chilean scenario shows a joint effort of various actors to advance recycling. However, there are still challenges to overcome, such as raising awareness among citizens and the need for more infrastructure for proper waste management – explain to LT the general manager of the National Association of the Recycling Industry (ANIR) Antonia Biggs.

And it is that, despite the fact that there are people who try to recycle at home, the national domestic recycling rate does not exceed 4%.

“There is a long way to go to advance on recycling issues in the country. We are in a phase that resembles a laboratory: there are municipalities that are experimenting with certain systems, testing others. Some work and some don’t, but we are still at very low rates — adds Peró.

The two experts await the law on extended producer responsibility (REP law) which comes into force in September of this year and which establishes the duty of companies to take charge of the waste they generate.

“This law prioritizes waste management by considering it as raw materials and seeking to reduce its environmental impact. By recirculating these materials for as long as possible, Chile is contributing to the circular economy, which has emerged as an important goal,” says Biggs.

—Environmental education is super important, so that people who won’t receive awards for recycling realize that it’s important to do so for the protection of the environment. That you understand that waste generates an expense and that if you sort at home and recycle, you are not only helping to take care of the environment, but you are contributing to an industry for the generation of work Says Pero.

In other words, if a person decides to recycle at home, he not only has a positive impact on the environment, but also on the social sphere, generating even more value than he thinks.

“Providing clear and simple guidance on what can be recycled and how to do it is essential,” adds Biggs, recalling the clean production agreement (CPA) of eco-labeled which guides people on which products can be recycled and which cannot.

For this, the specialist ensures that the municipalities have a fundamental role, because they are the ones closest to the community and they can prevent any potential confusion or frustration from getting in the way of the recycling process.