CASE STUDY
BOGOTÁ – A GROUND-BREAKING
SCENARIO OF THE INCLUSION
OF RECYCLERS IN WASTE
COLLECTION AND RECYCLING1
Context and background
The Colombian capital city of Bogotá with
a population of 7.5 million generates over
7,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day.
The waste collection and transportation system
that was in place between 1994 and 2012
was operated exclusively by private cleaning
companies. Then, from December 2012, the
public operator Aguas de Bogotá started
service provision for some parts of the city.
As measured by the Special Administrative Unit
of Public Services (UAESP), as of December
2014, the public operator took care of cleaning
in 63.15% of the city. Private operators had been
appointed for the remaining areas of the city.
In parallel to the formal system, for more than 50 years
the city´s waste pickers have been collecting and selling
specific waste materials, including glass, paper and
cardboard, metals and plastics. According to the Registro
Único de Recicladores (Unique Register of Recyclers),
as of December 2014, there are 20,643  registered
recyclers in the city, with an estimated additional 8,000
unregistered ones. Their work allows for the operation
of over 1,500 recycling warehouses that reintroduce
recyclable materials into the recycling value chain and
provide feedstock to industries. While they have been
the de facto recycling system in the city of Bogotá, their
work remained unrecognized for a long time. This case
study highlights the process of organization and inclusion
of waste recyclers in the ‘formal’ waste management
system in Colombia and implementation of the landmark
Order 275 of 2011 by the Constitutional Court in Bogotá,
which recognized recyclers’ organizations as legal
bidders for formal waste management systems.
1 Text elaborated with inputs from Mariel Vilella, Zero Waste Europe/GAIA, with
the support of: Federico Parra, Coordinator of the program of recyclers in Latin
America, WIEGO. For further information see: Parra, F. (2015). Reciclaje sí, pero
con Recicladores. WIEGO Policy Briefing (Urban Policy) No 9.
200 Global Waste Management Outlook
5
Process of organization and inclusion
The history of informal recyclers in Colombia starts in
the 1950s, when a wave of violence forced farmers to
migrate to the city, where through waste they found a
way to survive. The first successful efforts to organize
themselves date back to early 1960s. The process of
organizing intensified in the 1980s, culminating in the
creation of the National Association of Recyclers in
Colombia (ANR) in 1990. The Association of Recyclers
of Bogotá (ARB) was formed in 1992 and ultimately
became one of the strongest of these organizations,
leading the process for the recognition of informal
recyclers as public service providers in the country.2
Most of the legislation related to waste management
was framed within the National Law for Public Services
147/1994 and National Decree 17/13 that regulates
public cleaning services, which were established in 2002.
This legislation was in favour of awarding contracts to
private companies and was detrimental of the inclusion
of recyclers in the formal system.
In parallel, the recyclers led the campaign to get a
judgement from the Constitutional Court in recognition
of their rights. The results of this representation of
the informal sector through strong and dedicated
leadership by individual recyclers, with the advice and
support from NGOs and professionals, mobilization and
raising-awareness campaigns in the media, as well as
undertaking legal action at the national level have been
remarkable – leading to seven rulings and orders by the
Constitutional Court of Colombia since 2002 protecting
the rights of recyclers. One of the major achievements
was the recognition of recyclers’ organizations as legal
bidders within formal waste management systems in
2 In 1994, several recycler organizations such as ARB and Rescatar, with the
support of advocacy NGO ‘Fundación Social’, participated in the process held by
the municipality to award waste management services. From October 1994 to
June 1995 the Cooperative Association of Recyclers of Bogotá (ARB) was hired
to help with health emergencies when local dumpsites were not used. This was
an emergency measure and it did not result in granting the ARB the right to bid
for the services. In fact, the National Law for Public Services (Law 142 de 1994)
made public bidding very inaccesible for participation by the ARB.
2011. This reinforced a 2010 court ruling that had asked
private companies that had won the waste disposal
tender to include and provide job opportunities for informal
recyclers. Noteworthy also was Order 275 of 2011 by
the Constitutional Court, as it combined all the Court´s
previous rulings and orders, delineating guidelines for a
recycling operating model with inclusion of the informal
sector and requiring, among other things, that waste
pickers be remunerated for the services of collection,
transportation and recycling of waste materials. Official
recognition of waste pickers as service providers came
as a paradigm shift in the outlook of both the national
and the city level governments towards the informal
sector, as it constituted a formal acknowledgment of the
benefits of informal recycling efforts.
As a follow-up, the Constitutional Court ordered the
government to amend National Decree 17/13 so that it
was consistent with the rulings from the Constitutional
Court and provides a level playing field for the recyclers.
In December 2013, the government approved National
Decree 2981, which is the prevailing legislation.
Implementation in Bogotá
The application of the 2011 Constitutional Court rulings
in Bogotá involved significant changes in how the
waste management system was organized in the city.
The municipality created a Register of Recyclers that
identified the areas where they worked and how they
operated, in order to map, define and characterize them
as beneficiaries of the affirmative actions prescribed
by the Court decisions, and thereby prevent misuse
by opportunist groups. Furthermore, the municipality
committed to promote source separation and highlight
the role of waste pickers. It also provided resources
for substituting animal-pulled vehicles with motorized
vehicles, in order to improve recyclers’ working
conditions.3 To make the system operational, in
December 2012, the municipality established a network
of 250 weighing centres (bodegas) for recyclers to take
the collected recyclable materials.
The major innovation of the system was the introduction
of a bimonthly payment to recyclers who would commit
to bringing their recyclable materials to the bodegas on
a daily basis, at an equal rate per tonne as the rate used
to pay private companies for collected and transported
waste.4 Every two months, the 8,250 Bogotá recyclers
enrolled in the Bogotá Zero Waste Programme (which
ran until December 2014) received a payment equivalent
3 In 2012, the municipality agreed that each registered and verified recycler
may receive, upon surrender of his cart and horse, compensation equivalent to
21 million Colombian pesos (approximately 7,200 USD as of August 2015), in
the form of motor vehicle, or in the form of “seed plan” to their business plan.
In December 2014, 2,800 animal-drawn vehicles had been replaced.
4 These bodegas act as “points for authorized weighing” where recyclers bring
their recyclable materials recovered daily and record the weight on an official
form. The type of material does not affect the rate of payment. After weighing,
the recycler can sell the recyclables to the intermediary by type, following the
price set by the market for recyclables, as traditionally done.
Bogotá – The inclusion of recyclers in waste collection and recycling
to 87,000 Colombian pesos5 per tonne collected and
transported. The payment was conditional on the recycler
being registered in the official Register and having a bank
account. This system is a significant departure from the
previous situation where sales of the materials were
the only source of revenue for informal recyclers. Of
all the recyclers participating in this initiative, 1,500 are
associated with ARB.6
Animal/handpulled carts used by waste recyclers
As these have been the first experiences with including
waste pickers at this scale and level, the stakeholders
involved are exploring new territory together and
searching for workable solutions. For example, efforts
are ongoing by the city council and ARB to establish
routes and optimize the use of motorized vehicles for
transport to bodegas.  Herein, the right balance has to
be found between, on the one hand, the tendency of the
authorities to design a system from scratch focusing on
efficiency and optimization, and the existing realities and
pickers’ established practices on the other. Also, WIEGO
has provided funds to improve the health and safety
conditions of recyclers and from June 2015 onwards
recyclers will have access to specialized equipment,
professional gloves, masks, boots, identity cards etc.,
along with capacity building training to educate them in
the use of this equipment.
More broadly, the city authorities have initiated a Zero
Waste Programme and increasing recycling rates is
a part of the programme. Within this, the inclusion of
informal recyclers has a clear place. Several areas need
attention in order to take the recycling model in Bogotá
to the next level. In order to facilitate door-to-door
collection of recyclables, source separation habits need
to be developed further, perhaps with support through
appropriate incentives. A specific problem concerns
5 Approximately 30 USD (as of August 2015).
6 The ARB currently has 2,500 associated recyclers organized in 17 base
organizations, represents recyclers, provides training for capacity building,
improves the organization of the value chain and makes sustained efforts to
mainstream the informal sector.
201
 organic waste, as currently there is no formal system
for it in the city (some of it is collected by the recyclers
and used as animal feed). Ultimately, any waste that is
not recycled by the recyclers, including organic waste,
ends in sanitary landfills, which still represents a high
percentage of Bogotá’s waste.
Weigthing operations at Bodega
Lessons learned and the way forward
The case of Bogotá is significant for two main reasons.
First, the Goldman Prize awarded in 2013 to Nohra Padilla,
one of the ARB’s leaders, was a major victory in gaining
global recognition and visibility.7 Moreover, the orders of
the Constitutional Court have been included in public
policy at the national level. The Ministry of Housing and
Urban Planning issued Decree 2981 in 2013 on public
services8 and Resolution 0754 in 2014 on solid waste
management planning,9 requiring municipal authorities
across Colombia to shift their waste management plans
to inclusive models that incorporate informal recyclers.
The same system is now under consideration to be
developed and implemented in several other cities in
Colombia.
7 http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/nohra-padilla
8 Decree No. 2981 of 2013, by which the provision of public services is regulated
http://diario-oficial.vlex.com.co/vid/decreto-2013-reglamenta-servicio-
aseo-482847738?_ga=1.20099835.239573512.1425225743
9 Resolution No. 0754 of 2014, for which the methodology for the formulation,
implementation, evaluation, monitoring, control and updating of Integral
Management Plans for Solid Waste was adopted. http://diario-oficial.vlex.com.
co/vid/resolucion-numero-0754-2014-547338526
202 Global Waste Management Outlook
Second, through the inclusion of some 8,250 recyclers
into the waste management system, their role and their
work have been formally recognized and remunerated
according to rates stipulated by the competent
authorities. The investment of the council towards the
recyclers’ salary has doubled the recyclers’ earnings,
which has significantly improved their quality of life,
enabled them to send their children to school, and
contributed to the well-being of the community.10 Finally,
through their activities, recyclers divert an estimated
1,200 tonnes of recyclable materials per day from the
landfill, thus having a major contribution to the city’s 16%
recycling rate.11
The initiative has just begun and the new system is
making a significant contribution to recycling and to solid
waste management overall. The way forward is to build
on what has been achieved, to increase the recycling
rate to levels beyond the national average and to make
this a truly win-win solution for both the recyclers and
the city.
10 While this case shows the improvement in the working conditions of the
recyclers and the waste management system in the city, there remains room
for improvement. According to the National Survey of Recycling 85% of the
recycling population in the country belongs to socioeconomic strata 1 or  2,
living in precarious housing conditions with low social coverage and low
schooling. Aluna Consultores Limitada (2010).
11 Aluna Consultores Limitada (2011), as quoted in (Parra, 2015). Aluna
Consultores Ltda, 2011. Estudio Nacional de Reciclaje y los Recicladores.
CEMPRE. The same report gives the national average recycling rate as 19%,
compared to the 16% in Bogotá. There is however no data available yet on any
changes in the recycling rate in Bogotá following the formalization programme.