Inauguration of the organic waste recycling pilot plant

Municipal Secretary of Environmental Management - Municipal Government of La Paz, Press release28.04.2021
The construction of the organic waste recycling plant located in the former Mallasa landfill has been inaugurated within the framework of the Zero Waste Project in Bolivia, financed by the Swedish International Development Agency and executed by Swisscontact and Helvetas.

The operation of the plant involves differentiated collection, waste treatment and the sale of the processed products. It will receive up to 30 tons per day of organic waste, which means 7,800 tons per year. It will also produce compost and worm humus that will be for sale to the general public.

The facility will be administered by the Municipal Company of Green Areas (Emaverde), the products obtained will be used to maintain the green areas of the city.

The new plant has five areas: reception, mixing, maturing, composting and sifting, and one of the most important benefits of this plant is that it will extend the useful life of the Sak’a Churu landfill and promote an eco-efficient municipality.

The investment was close to 1.5 million Bolivianos, which was destined for infrastructure, machinery tools, and has the Commune as a counterpart.

In 2010, through a strategic alliance between the Mayor's Office and Swisscontact, the ‘Ecomarkets’ project was started in order to collect organic waste in a differentiated way in nine markets in the South zone and in the Vesty Pakos Biopark. Within this context, the saleswomen were trained and, in a first pilot project, special green containers were provided for small scale organic waste treatment.

Watch the recording of the event below (in Spanish) at which Luis Revilla Herrero, Mayor of La Paz, and Jörgen Persson, Chargé d'Affaires of the Swedish Embassy in Bolivia, participated.

2020 - 2022
Bolivia
Green cities
Zero Waste Project
The Project seeks to reduce the final disposal of solid waste in sanitary landfills, promoting small, medium and large entrepreneurs to recycle various materials, and use organic waste to produce compost, in order to migrate to a more efficient and environment-friendly circular economy.Bolivia is an urban country. Of its 11.3 million inhabitants,...