Initiative includes actions aimed at developing circular economy in the town
Paraná – Improving solid waste management, environmental education at communities and the working conditions and income levels of environmental recycling agents are some of the goals of the Klabin Solid Waste Program, which was rolled out in Sapopema. With support from ViraSer – a program that forges alliances between recyclable material associations and cooperatives and society – including private organizations and the government, the initiative will complement the projects already run by the municipal government, conduct a diagnosis of the region and make improvements to waste management.
Before the initiative was launched, an assessment was made of the Association of Solid and Recyclable Waste Collectors of Sapopema (ACRSRS) and the actions already taken to deal with waste in the town. The goal of the first phase is to analyze the strengths of Sapopema regarding environmental education in the community and association, and what can be optimized. After the diagnosis, Klabin, ViraSer, ACRSRS and the municipal government are drafting a quarterly plan with actions to be implemented during the period, such as increasing the association’s revenues, circularity of waste and expansion of access to environmental education.
“We are very pleased with yet another important partnership between the municipal government and Klabin. The Solid Waste Program has arrived to meet a highly essential requirement – waste management. The consultancy for our recyclers association and for public officials will help and provide training on optimizing this management and will, without doubt, make a difference in both the lives of these people and the town as a whole, which will promote the correct disposal of waste in order to preserve the environment,” said Paulo Maximiano de Souza Junior, the mayor of Sapopema.
Created in 2012, Klabin’s Solid Waste Program was implemented in partnership with the Caminhos de Tibagi Consortium in six towns across the region, such as Telêmaco Borba, Ortigueira, Imbaú, Reserva, Tibagi and Rio Branco do Ivaí. With the integration of ViraSer in 2021, the initiative has achieved impressive results, such as higher sales volume of recyclable materials and over 60% increase in the average income of workers at the cooperatives and partner associations, in addition to leadership development, improvement of logistics and productive efficiency of sorting centers, and expansion of community engagement on the issue.
“The arrival of the Solid Waste Program in Sapopema is very important for Klabin, which values sustainable development in the communities where it operates. The company has partnered with the town on diverse projects, such as the Support for Public Administration and Social Forests Program, and the encouragement to family farming. It is now joining efforts to promote advanced solid waste management,” said Uilson Paiva, Social Responsibility and Community Relations manager at Klabin.
About Klabin’s Solid Waste Program
Since the start of the program’s action plan, Klabin has engaged in diagnosing the solid waste generated in each town, besides supplying structures such as sheds and equipment such as selective collection trucks and materials to enable the correct segregation of recyclable materials in each region, besides providing training to waste pickers and forming associations or cooperatives to organize their work. The issue of solid waste is also present in “Klabin’s Sustainable Development Goals (KODS),” a strategic agenda aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and lists the Company’s ESG goals, one of which is the maximum optimization of resources in which residues generate value when reused in production systems by 2030.
About ViraSer
Present in 14 Brazilian states, ViraSer is dedicated to forging alliances among recyclable material collectors’ organizations, governments, intermunicipal consortia and companies that are signatories to the sectoral agreement on packaging in general for reverse logistics actions that correctly dispose of recyclable solid waste generated around the country, transforming Brazilian cities into cleaner and more sustainable cities.
Apart from mobilizing diverse players around the correct management of recyclable materials, ViraSer also focuses on the socio-productive inclusion of recycling professionals, making them entrepreneurs of a new business model in Brazil, besides enabling these organizations to maximize work and income generation, increasing the recovery of the dry fraction and contributing to the circularity of the waste they receive.
