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In Peru there are over 100,000 recyclers of solid waste, the vast majority working under precarious and unhealthy conditions. Recyclers work under very precarious conditions with a high risk of suffering accidents and getting diseases. Their activity requires handling solid waste that can be toxic, produce injury or transmit diseases. However, recyclers have very limited knowledge of occupational health and safety and lack personal protection gear (such as gloves, boots, goggles, helmets) to perform their activity in a safe way. In addition, recyclers and their families usually do not have access to public social programs.
Recyclers also have a very limited participation in the formal recycling chain and therefore have very few opportunities for economic development. The average income of a family that depends on recycling is under US$120 a month, an average of US$24 per person or less than 1 dollar per day. Recyclers have limited capacities to organize among themselves in order to become small business enterprises that operate formally. The few businesses that have been formed lack the start-up capital, as they don't have access to credits from financial institutions. Furthermore, recyclers have little knowledge of how to apply business management principles to their waste recollection and selling activities.
The proposed project will help recyclers improve their working conditions and their income obtained from the recycling activity. In this way recyclers and their families will have a sustainable source of income and work under acceptable health and safety standards. The support provided by the project will also improve solid waste management in the neighborhoods where recyclers operate, significantly contributing to improve the quality of the environment. The project proposes to focus its action in two recycler's associations located in the districts of San Juan de Miraflores and Villa María del Triunfo, on the southern metropolitan area of Lima. The project will therefore benefit the 70 members of the associations plus their respective family members who add up to nearly 200 people. Both associations provide recollection services to nearly 24,000 homed in the two districts, who will also be indirect beneficiaries of the project.
The Project will finance two activities, which will be undertaken in a period of 8 months:
a) Purchase and implementation of basic safety equipment for the two associations in their respective collection centers, including: Solid waste screening and classification table; platform balance; fire extinguishers; personal protection equipment (hard hats, work clothes, cap, goggles, steel-toe boots, leather gloves, mask with replacement filters) for both associations. The project will purchase a small truck for one of the associations.
b) Improvement of the daily operations of the associations, including optimization of the spatial distribution of collection centers and the implementation of procedures for the reception of materials, classification, registry, weighing, conditioning and commercialization. The Project will also provide training for the recyclers, including occupational health and safety, business management, leadership, team work and conflict resolution.
The local sponsor is the Rotary Club Línea Azul Primavera Surco, whose responsibility will be to supervise the correct execution of the project, as well as to provide timely reports of the use of the global grant. The members of the RC Línea Azul will also participate in the training programs for recyclers, especially the programs to help their self-esteem, team work and family relations. Also, Línea Azul will promote health campaigns for recyclers and their families.
The members of the recyclers associations will be in charge of leading the project activities. They will have the support of the Rotary Club Línea Azul Primavera Surco and a local NGO called Ciudad Saludable. This organization has extensive experience in the implementation of integrated solid waste management models in almost one hundred cities of Peru. The model is already being exported to other cities of Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. The team of Ciudad Saludable will provide specialized knowledge on integrated solid waste management, through training and technical support to recyclers.
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