How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina

Pegels, Anna et al. Working Paper How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina Discussion Paper, No. 23/2020 Provided in Cooperation with: German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn Suggested Citation: Pegels, Anna et al. (2020) : How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina, Discussion Paper, No. 23/2020, ISBN 978-3-96021-137-2, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn, https://doi.org/10.23661/dp23.2020 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/228833 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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Anna Pegels Stefanie Heyer David Ohlig Felix Kurz Lena Laux Prescott Morley In cooperation with: Reconciling the Social, Ecological, and Economic Dimensions in Argentina How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina Anna Pegels Stefanie Heyer David Ohlig Felix Kurz Lena Laux Prescott Morley Bonn 2020 Discussion Paper / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik ISSN (Print) 1860-0441 ISSN (Online) 2512-8698 Except as otherwise noted this publication is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0). You are free to copy, communicate and adapt this work, as long as you attribute the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the author. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ISBN 978-3-96021-137-2 (printed edition) DOI: 10.23661/dp23.2020 Printed on eco-friendly, certified paper Dr Anna Pegels is a senior researcher in the department “Transformation of Economic and Social Systems” at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE). Email: [email protected] Published with financial support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) © Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik gGmbH Tulpenfeld 6, 53113 Bonn  +49 (0)228 94927-0  +49 (0)228 94927-130 Email: [email protected] http://www.die-gdi.de Abstract Due to the prevailing economic crisis, Argentina has been facing a growing number of informal workers, many of them urban recyclers. Following the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated decline in formal employment, this number can be expected to rise even further. Increased recycling activity is, in principle, a positive development. However, the working conditions of urban recyclers often do not correspond to the ILO definition of “decent work”. It is therefore important to ask how the recycling system in Argentina can be shaped to be socially sustainable, as well as environmentally and economically sustainable. Based on qualitative stakeholder interviews, our research aimed to collect and synthesise the ideas and expectations of a diverse set of actors in the recycling sector of Buenos Aires City and selected municipalities of Buenos Aires Province. This enabled us to identify four key areas of dispute and potential action. First, work in urban recycling is a form of social safety net in Argentina, as in many countries with persistent poverty. This can lead to a trade-off between maintaining the social function of the sector and subjecting it to the kinds of efficiency requirements placed on other sectors. Given the inherent power asymmetries between large companies and individual urban recyclers, the latter may be crowded out once the sector becomes profitable. Second, it is important to avoid viewing urban recyclers as recipients of charity. By reintroducing materials into the resource cycle and reducing pressure on landfills, they create positive externalities and offer a valuable service to society. Paying urban recyclers for the service component of their work in addition to the value of the raw materials collected would constitute a significant step towards ensuring both decent incomes and broad social recognition of the workers’ value. Third, the knowledge and experience gathered by urban recyclers holds great potential for grassroots innovations, such as making productive use of materials that do not currently have a market. With the cooperation of other actors, such as universities, and the provision of resources and support via the removal of red tape, these innovators could more easily employ their ideas to the benefit of society. Fourth, as a cross-cutting issue, all solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of urban recycling for a transition of the waste sector towards economic, ecological and social sustainability require a careful navigation of the political economy dimension. Constellations of interests have led to incentives that are, in many cases, not conducive to economic efficiency and bind resources that could otherwise be used to improve recycling schemes. Reform of these incentives requires a careful analysis of power constellations and potential change coalitions. Keywords: Waste management; urban recycling; cartoneros; sustainability; Argentina Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of three reviewers: Sebastián Carenzo (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes), Tilman Altenburg, and Mario Negre (both Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik / German Development Institute, DIE). The paper benefited greatly from their comments on an earlier version. All remaining errors are entirely those of the authors. Bonn, October 2020 Anna Pegels Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Making the case 1 1.1 The concept of a circular economy 1 1.2 Research gap: inclusive circular economy models 2 1.3 Making the case for Buenos Aires, Argentina 4 2 Conceptual framework 5 2.1 Sustainable waste management 5 2.2 The informal sector in sustainable waste management 7 2.3 Value-creation chains in sustainable waste management 8 2.4 Instruments of sustainable waste management 10 3 Methodology 12 3.1 Research design 12 3.2 Data collection and selection of interview partners 13 3.3 Data analysis 14 4 Case study: Buenos Aires 16 4.1 Introduction and context 16 4.2 Actors and stakeholders 17 4.3 Waste management organisation and incentive system 20 4.4 Legislative context 24 5 Results and discussion 26 5.1 Synergies and trade-offs between the three pillars of sustainable waste management 26 5.1.1 Social and economic relations 26 5.1.2 Social and environmental relations 29 5.1.3 Economic and environmental relations 30 5.2 Contributions of stakeholders to a sustainable recycling system 30 5.3 Towards a circular economy: extended producer responsibility 35 6 Conclusion 37 References 41 Annex: List of interviews 47 Figures Figure 1: Conceptual diagram of a circular economy 1 Figure 2: Service chain and value chain 9 Figure 3: Schematic depiction of waste management in Argentina 21 Tables Table 1: Co-benefits of the sustainability dimensions of waste management 6 Table 2: Coding system 14 Table 3: Actors of the waste and recycling system in AMBA 18 Abbreviations Aca academia AMBA Area Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (The Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires) ARS Argentinian Peso CABA Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires) CE circular economy CEAMSE Coordinación Ecológica Área Metropolitana Sociedad del Estado CGT Confederación General del Trabajo CNCT Confederación Nacional de Cooperativas de Trabajo Coop urban recycler cooperative CTA Central de Trabajadores Argentinos EPR extended producer responsibility EU European Union FACCyR Federación Argentina de Cartoneros, Carreros y Recicladores (Argentinian Federation of Cartoneros) FARN Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales MTE Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos (Movement for excluded workers) NGO non-governmental organisation OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OPDS Organismo Provincial para el Desarrollo Sostenible (Provincial Organisation for Sustainable Development) PrivS private sector PRO producer responsibility organisation PubS public sector USD United States Dollar WIEGO Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing & Organizing How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 7 systems. Thus, any functioning model of a circular economy in countries with persisting poverty, and any policy reform moving the waste sector in these countries towards more circularity, has to take the social needs of those who depend on the waste sector for their livelihoods into account. With this in mind, we turn towards developing a deeper understanding of the embeddedness of the informal sector in a sustainable waste management system and its integration in the value-creation chains of waste management. 2.2 The informal sector in sustainable waste management Progress is needed in the formalisation and recognition of informal recycling (UNEP, 2018). Urban recyclers are an integral part of the circular economy (CE) in the Global South (Gutberlet, Carenzo, Kain, & Mantovani Martiniano de Azevedo, 2017), but they often operate as an unregulated public service that is performed under precarious or hazardous working conditions (Binion & Gutberlet, 2012). Despite having been recognised by the legal system in several countries, comprehensive professionalisation and formalisation of the informal sector has yet to take place. Formalisation in the sector would contribute to productivity and promote health and the protection of children, as well as access to decent employment with adequate labour rights and protections (UNEP, 2018). Based on an actor-centred approach to a circular economy (CE), any achievements in waste management must embrace a perspective of social and economic inclusion (Gutberlet et al., 2017). The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2017) argues that economic inclusion, meaning the provision of economic opportunities to previously underserved social groups, is integral to achieving a transition towards sustainable market economies. However, there are limits to what unsupported and informal urban recyclers can achieve regarding their contribution to a CE. Gregson et al. (2015) argue, for example, that urban recyclers play a valuable role in systems of urban waste governance in the Global South, and that they should be integrated into formal municipal waste-management systems, but that they often require an upgrading of their activities for this to be successful. Therefore, in support of transformational efforts towards a CE, it is important to actively empower urban recyclers (Gutberlet et al., 2017; Velis, 2017). Throughout the existing research on urban recycler activities, the terms “inclusion”, “integration” and “formalisation” are used ambiguously, with no clear consensus on the best methods of organisation and empowerment (Velis, 2017). Still, formalisation of some kind and recognition of their activities are some of the more successful interventions with regard to improving the conditions of urban recyclers (Kaza et al., 2018). Formalisation is expected to eliminate social problems related to the informal sector, such as working conditions that endanger health and safety, social rejection, exploitation and poverty. However, it is simply assumed that formalisation leads to the reduction or elimination of such problems even though the effects have not been precisely measured and evaluated (Aparcana & Salhofer, 2013). Different formalisation approaches exist; usually they involve registering as microenterprises, cooperatives, or public–private partnerships and agreeing to comply with tax laws and business norms (Gregson et al., 2015). These efforts are expected to lead to more efficient recycling and more effective poverty reduction. By becoming formalised, urban recyclers can strengthen their bargaining position with industry and government, and enter into formal contracts, which could improve social inclusion in the Anna Pegels et al. 8 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) solid waste sector (Medina, 2008). The requirement to comply with sector regulation and to pay taxes, however, can be perceived as a downside of formalisation by informal actors. Besides official formalisation processes, other approaches focus on recognition of the environmental, social, and economic benefits of informal recycling. This aspect is typically unacknowledged, when urban recyclers are, in fact, assisting in reducing solid waste and working toward more recycling and reuse of goods and materials in society. Assisting and legitimising their employment is crucial for economies struggling to cover the costs of formal waste management (Binion & Gutberlet, 2012). Under this approach, authorities not only support the formalisation of recycling activities but also promote the recognition of urban recycling as a service (RedLACRE, 2020). Commonly, a cooperation scheme is based on the formation of public–private partnerships and the establishment of collection and recycling contracts with municipalities and private companies (Medina, 2010). Further, it is argued that an inclusive waste-management system is inconsistent with the restriction of the contribution of waste-picker organisations to the operational side of waste management as, for example, collectors and sorters. To enhance their role as specialised service providers, their expertise regarding practices and methods related to responsible waste disposal and recyclability should be fully recognised and accredited (Gutberlet et al., 2017). Furthermore, urban recyclers may be able to communicate the importance of recycling to ordinary people and thus change established routines and habits in a way that graduated professionals find difficult to achieve (Gutberlet et al., 2017). The sharing of recyclers’ tacit and experiential knowledge with industry, consumers, and policy makers provides an often-overlooked opportunity (Binion & Gutberlet, 2012; Carenzo, 2018). 2.3 Value-creation chains in sustainable waste management Sustainable waste management consists of two different areas of value-creation chains. First, the service chain comprises a range of services, including waste collection, transport, and disposal, as well as urban cleaning. These services are often primarily managed by the public sector. Service chains are generally local and their activities do not include pricing or trading of materials. Yet in countries with persisting poverty, these services are often performed by the urban recyclers, who, by removing contamination and collecting recyclables, provide a free, alternative service to the municipality and help to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. This is a direct benefit to businesses and households and helps to reduce collection and disposal costs for municipalities. Their activities also help to reduce demand for the extraction of primary resources, and contribute to lowering the emission of greenhouse gases. However, in most cases, urban recyclers are not remunerated for these public services. In a sense, informal recyclers are subsidising the municipal waste system by providing alternative sinks at no cost to the city (Scheinberg, Simpson, & Gupt, 2010; Wilson, Velis, & Cheeseman, 2006). Second, the value chain includes the extraction and commercialisation (valorisation) of valuable materials from the waste stream. Valorisation involves the extraction or separation of valuable materials from residual waste, cleaning, processing and selling them as usable material. The value chain is primarily managed by private-sector companies, including multi-national businesses. Because of this, recycling in middle-income countries is often limited to high-value fractions of waste, while less valuable fractions are discarded. Urban recyclers often operate at the beginning of the value chain. The core business consists of How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 9 finding and harvesting recyclable materials with monetary value, which can then be sold to intermediaries or junk shops. Urban recyclers are paid for the material by weight and are, in most cases, not remunerated for labour or time. Some urban recyclers perform the steps of materials processing, such as cleaning and compressing, to obtain higher prices. The two chains and their relationship to each other are shown in Figure 2. The depiction in this figure is, of course, schematic; the more detailed steps of the value chain depend on the material in question (personal interview Aca4, 2019). Figure 2: Service chain and value chain, with typical activities of urban recyclers Notes: The red circle depicts typical activities of urban recyclers. The compression of materials and early-stage processing are only performed in some cases. Source: Adapted from OECD (2016). As mentioned previously, formalisation and recognition approaches can help to strengthen the position of the informal sector in the value chain. Governments and other actors can improve urban recyclers’ income prospects by ensuring fair and stable prices from intermediaries or by helping waste-picker cooperatives establish direct contracts with large waste generators or buyers of recyclables (Kaza et al., 2018; OECD, 2016). There is, however, little research available on the impacts of policies for a circular economy relating to the position of urban recyclers in the service and value chains (Gregson et al., 2015). Recycling markets vary significantly, depending on both the proximity of large value-chain buyers and the intrinsic economic value of the waste stream. In other words, there must be a market or practical economic demand for the materials (Gille, 2007; Bauman, 2004). The economic viability of the recycling value chain is often constrained by market failures, such as an abundant supply of materials but a lack of collection and processing capacity to connect them to buyers. This results in little or no local economic demand even for materials that are technically recyclable. Extended producer responsibility Anna Pegels et al. 10 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) schemes, which require producers to take on financial and/or physical responsibility for their products in the post-consumer stage, are considered as one option to respond to such market failures (OECD, 2016). 2.4 Instruments of sustainable waste management The concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) aims to make producers responsible for the entire product chain, from product design through to the post-consumer stage. Its intention is threefold: 1. to hold producers accountable and financially responsible for the environmental impacts of their products 2. to alleviate municipalities and taxpayers from the financial burden of waste management and recycling 3. to increase recycling rates and to reduce the waste sent to final disposal (landfill) by providing incentives for environmentally friendly packaging and eco-design of products. EPR can therefore be an important cornerstone of the transition towards a circular economy. It provides incentives for producers to improve product and packaging design, thereby reducing the waste produced. At the same time, it implements the polluter-pays principle, discouraging any non-circular products. There is a diversity of EPR approaches, since each approach must consider the specific circumstances of the recycling and waste sector in the respective country. Currently there are over 400 EPR systems in place worldwide. More than 70 per cent of existing EPR systems have been introduced since 2001 (OECD, 2016). In most cases, legislation has been the driver of the EPR introduction. First, EPR systems can be differentiated by product type. Consumer electronics account for 35 per cent of EPR systems, followed by tyres (18%) and packaging (17%) (OECD, 2016). Second, EPR systems can be either mandatory or voluntary. In many mandatory systems, the producer pays a fee that is proportional to the amount of waste or product that they contribute to the market. These fees are often collected by a producer responsibility organisation (PRO), which may be run as either a public or private enterprise, and is used to finance the collection and recycling infrastructure. In contrast, voluntary models appear to be limited to specific cases and products where the producer has a profit incentive to collect and reuse material. Whether the EPR system is mandatory or voluntary, the degree to which producers assume responsibility differs; some systems aim to place full responsibility with producers, while others only expect producers to bear a portion of the responsibility. The systems also vary with respect to structure. Most EPR systems are take-back schemes, which require firms to either recover their own products and dispose of or recycle them, or to fund a PRO to perform these activities collectively. Other systems may make use of deposit/refund systems or advance disposal fees, charged either at the time of purchase or at the time of disposal. Deposit/refund and advance disposal fee systems may be combined with take-back schemes or may simply be used in combination with the existing public collection infrastructure. Thus, EPR schemes can either hold producers financially How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 11 responsible or assign them operational and/or organisational roles in the recycling process, such as in waste collection. A variety of policy instruments are used for the implementation of EPR systems. These can include regulatory, economic, and informative instruments (OECD, 2016). Regulatory instruments, for instance, are reuse and recycling targets, emission limits, or product standards. Economic instruments can include subsidies, product taxes, deposits, and disposal fees. Finally, informative instruments include information provision to recyclers, product labelling, and environmental reporting. Given the specific circumstances in a country, each EPR system varies in the extent to which these different policy instruments are applied. There are several key aspects of EPR systems that demand attention, including design and governance to address competition issues, set environmental incentives and include informal waste workers. According to the OECD (2016: 4), any EPR system should incentivise producers for better product design and promote innovation, define clear institutional responsibilities, choose a variety of mandatory or voluntary policy instruments suitable for the particular context, make use of stakeholder and consultation processes, avoid economic misallocations, provide a sound financial framework, and consistently run evaluations. Credible mechanisms, such as a producer registry, sanctions, and monitoring systems, ought to be at the heart of any EPR system. Introducing competition between PROs can also be an important element to safeguard efficiency. Additionally, all parts of the waste chain, from waste collection and sorting to disposal and recycling, should be organised through transparent and competitive tenders. Despite some undeniable success, many EPR systems display shortcomings that must be addressed, whether it is in the scope used for evaluating recycling rates (Arduin et al., 2019), long-distance transportation/export for downstream processing (Lodhia, Martin, & Rice, 2017), or the simple insufficiency of waste-treatment infrastructure (Nguyen, Ha, Eiji, & Huynh, 2017). Problems like these must be addressed through careful programme design and implementation. Importantly, markets for different products behave differently. While EPR schemes involving non-durable products such as packaging are fairly straightforward, simply strengthening enforcement, targets, or norms in schemes involving durable products can have unintended negative consequences concerning product durability and the quantity of new production (Alev, Agrawal, & Atasu, 2019; Huang, Atasu, & Beril Toktay, 2019). Managing schemes for durable products requires more careful and strategic design of incentives and requirements. There is also a trade-off in the decision to implement a system where collection and processing are conducted collectively or individually by the producers; a collective system provides better overall cost efficiency, while an individual system may provide more incentives for eco-design improvements (Atasu & Subramanian, 2012). This trade-off, too, may be surmountable, given proper programme design (Gui et al., 2018). A sustainable financial framework is key to the long-term success of EPR policies. Ideally, fees should account for the full net costs related to the end-of-life products in accordance with the polluter-pays principle. However, it is not sufficient merely to cover the costs. EPR fees must also be related to the end-of-life properties of the product in question, and vary based on the actual associated cost of recycling and disposal. In contrast to a simple flat fee charged on a per-unit basis, a variable fee engages the producer in the end-of-life management of the product and allows for competition and cost savings through design improvements. The use of a modulating fee is a central part of adhering to the “true cost Anna Pegels et al. 12 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) principle” (European Commission, 2014). Employing such fee modulation effectively may be difficult in some cases, but systems in place in both France and Italy have shown that it is possible, at least with regard to packaging waste (Watkins et al., 2017). Involving the large number of informal waste workers constitutes a major challenge for emerging and developing countries on their way towards the introduction of an EPR system. These informal workers and their contributions to recycling activities are being increasingly recognised as a crucial aspect of waste collection, sorting, processing, and recycling. However, they find themselves in all parts of the value chain, often marginalised and dependent on volatile material prices. Therefore, EPR systems need to find ways to include informal workers in the formal waste management system. A comparison of EPR systems in the developing context by the OECD (2016) has shown that a failure to involve informal workers can seriously weaken the performance of EPR systems. In contrast, the potential benefits of including the informal sector in EPR systems can entail a higher recycling rate, which reduces the waste destined for landfills and reduces the disposal costs for municipalities, as well as more efficient waste collection and sorting, educational benefits, and the provision of sustainable livelihoods for the large number of informal workers. EPR systems can also function as a stabiliser of the volatile material prices, thereby supporting the regularity of incomes for informal waste workers. However, EPR systems can also endanger the livelihoods of existing informal workers if integration into the formal system fails. As EPR schemes generate new funds to be distributed, it becomes more likely that other actors will enter the recycling field, perhaps even some of the large waste generators. This can lead to competition and conflict between the informal and formal sectors. Finally, while EPR systems largely differ in their performance, they have contributed to producers’ internalisation of waste management costs. In the context of EPR schemes for product packaging in the EU, producers are now responsible for between 10 and 100 per cent of the net end-of-life costs, depending on the country and the scheme (OECD, 2016). EPR systems have thus helped to transfer some of the financial responsibilities from the municipalities and taxpayers to the producers and consumers. Furthermore, EPR systems have helped to reduce the waste dumped in landfills and have increased recycling rates (Richter & Koppejan, 2016; Rubio, Ramos, Leitão, & Barbosa-Povoa, 2019). The decision to implement an EPR system for the shifting of financial responsibility in accordance with the polluter-pays principle is a political one, but policy makers can at least be assured that EPR schemes have proved to be capable of achieving that end. 3 Methodology 3.1 Research design This investigation conducts qualitative research in an attempt to achieve an in-depth understanding of stakeholder relations in a particular context. It captures and structures fragmented information and it furnishes the investigators with qualitative data, local knowledge, and direct insights obtained from local stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews help to establish a basis for understanding and contextualising the participation of actors involved by gathering focused, qualitative textual data (Leech, 2002). This type of interview enables the integration of local knowledge and priorities into the research design. How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 13 Several methodological steps have been followed in order to collect and enumerate the different existing positions in the discourse surrounding a sustainable recycling system in Buenos Aires, and to promote the identification of synergies and trade-offs between the dimensions of sustainability in the system. First, secondary data was analysed to gain a better understanding of waste and recycling management in the Greater Buenos Aires area (AMBA), and of the actors involved. This first overview of actors and legislative milestones in the development of the recycling sector was important for the study in order to proceed with the second step, the conducting of a stakeholder analysis, to identify important actors, groups of interest, and other stakeholders of the recycling system in AMBA. An evaluation of the stakeholders in terms of their interest and influence in the waste and recycling sector was taken as a starting point for developing the list of interview partners. In the next step, the questions for the interview guidelines were developed on the basis of the analytical framework on integrated sustainable recycling management. In the fourth step, the interviews were conducted, while the information obtained was constantly reorganised interactively to consolidate it and to increase the local representation, for example through discussion sessions with our local research partners (Mat Dia, 2014). Finally, the selected primary and secondary materials were coded and analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. This allowed the identification of the main challenges for a sustainable recycling system, the synergies and trade-offs in the relations between the sustainability dimensions, and the main challenges in the implementation of an EPR scheme in Argentina. The combination of primary and secondary data analysis allows triangulation and adds to the reliability of the findings. Making use of interviews often means a trade-off between the quantity, relevance, accuracy, and timeliness of information. As a result, review and validation of the obtained data are crucial, especially in the synthesis phase. Therefore, interview information was combined with a review of secondary documents collected during and after the interviews in order to support and complete the statements of the interview participants. 3.2 Data collection and selection of interview partners The secondary data sources include research papers and journals, country reports, official statistics from public institutions and international donors, and country strategy papers. In addition, data was collected on the Buenos Aires waste and recycling system and with regard to the initial framework of the research through consultation with the University of Quilmes, in particular Sebastián Carenzo and his team, as our main local partners. We identified a broad set of relevant stakeholders who are actively involved in the waste value chain, shape the institutional context, or are responsible for potential policy reforms. The potential interview partners were selected from this list of stakeholders. With a focus on the organisational level of the recycling system, interviews were conducted with key informants, such as the heads of recycling cooperatives, executive leaders of private companies or intermediaries, department officers of public institutions, and NGO representatives. In addition, interviews were conducted with local researchers and academics. Involving participants from different sectors reduced the likelihood of organisational bias in the represented perspectives. Once key actors were identified, the snowball sampling Anna Pegels et al. 14 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) strategy was utilised as interview participants were questioned at the end of the interview about other actors integral to the recycling system. The interview guidelines were developed based on the analytical framework of the research project and were adapted to the position and background of each interviewee. The aim was to draft clear and precise questions that are open-ended and easy for the interviewees to answer. The questions were intended to emphasise a neutral position and allow lengthy and descriptive answers rather than closed-ended questions (“yes” or “no” questions). At the beginning of each interview, we obtained the interviewee’s consent for the recording and use of information. In total, 42 interviews were conducted over a period spanning from 11 February 2019 to 29 March 2019, with an average length of one hour. 3.3 Data analysis The interviews were transcribed in their entirety, except for conversations at the beginning or end of the interview that did not relate to the study matter. A first document analysis involved skimming the collected material, followed by a more thorough examination to extract insights and patterns. Each of the team members reviewed the transcribed interviews and notes and independently summarised the key messages and insights that they took away from the data. These messages and insights were then discussed in a group and synthesised, ultimately serving as a basis for the creation of codes and sub codes. In order to further refine the codes, our analytical framework was again consulted, along with further secondary documents that had been recommended to the interviewers during the interview phase. Table 2: Coding system Code/Sub-code Definition State of data Marks the mentioning of existing (complementary) data, data currently being collected, and data gaps. Sustainability relations Trade-off Marks situations in which an improvement in one dimension leads to a deterioration of another. Synergy Marks simultaneous improvement in at least two dimensions of sustainability. Environmental aim Aims related to the environment. Social aim Aims related to social inclusion. Economic aim Aims related to economic aspects. Cooperatives Advantages Marks the mentioning of advantages of cooperatives as an organisational form for urban recyclers. Often used in conjunction with codes in the above sustainability relations category. Disadvantages Marks the mentioning of disadvantages of cooperatives as an organisational form of urban recyclers. Often used in conjunction with codes in the above sustainability relations category. Need for support Marks the need for (mostly) financial and institutional support from state and private companies for cooperatives. How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 15 Table 2 (cont.): Coding system Challenges for recycling Market for materials Includes the issue of recyclables without markets, volatile prices and lack of innovation of recycling methods for materials without markets Reform of waste collection Encompasses the role of the cooperatives, the lack of a recycling industry, and the efficiency of current waste management Separation of household waste Relates to all aspects concerning the separation of household waste and the associated role of consumers Others Other challenges which could not be related to any of the previous categories Extended producer responsibility (EPR) Actors Role of different actors involved in EPR schemes Proposals Concrete ideas for the design of an EPR scheme, e.g. related to funds, payment obligations, governance structures; phasing in as an implementation strategy Challenges Refers to prejudices and difficulties in the introduction of an EPR scheme Others EPR Other issues regarding EPR which could not be related to any of the previous categories Other codes Priorities of the 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover) Advantages of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling to incineration; elaboration of arguments pro and con; positions of the actors Incineration Other issues regarding incineration, including its potential impact on cooperatives Jurisdictional differences between City and Province Relates to differences in the jurisdictional configurations of the waste management system between the City and the Province, such as the legislative framework, availability of finance, waste separation and collection, involvement of cooperatives, etc Economic crisis Related to the current economic and political situation and its relation to the waste-management sector Balance between centralisation and fragmentation Tension between pluralism of cooperatives and decentralism in the waste-management system – at all levels, institutions, infrastructure and actors. Related questions are, e.g.: Do municipalities need more decision-making authority or less? Is an economy of scale necessary? Source: Authors As a next step, the data from the interview transcriptions was coded and analysed using a software for qualitative content analysis, ATLAS.ti 8. The preliminary findings of the data analysis were discussed with our local academic partners. On 25 April 2019, we presented our findings to our interview partners and other interested actors of the recycling sector, such as representatives of cooperatives, NGOs, the private sector, and policy makers. The contents of the presentation were then addressed in a subsequent panel discussion consisting of four key stakeholders from different sectors who had been identified during the interviews. Anna Pegels et al. 16 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 4 Case study: Buenos Aires This section provides an overview of the waste and recycling system in the Area Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (AMBA) as a basis for the subsequent research. To that end, there will first be a brief overview of the area and context, followed by an elaboration of key terms and definitions and the introduction of the actors and stakeholders involved in the system. 4.1 Introduction and context Buenos Aires is the capital of the Republic of Argentina and is the biggest city in the country, with approximately 2.8 million inhabitants. The metropolitan area of Buenos Aires consists of about 15 million inhabitants and, therefore, accounts for more than 30% of the total population of Argentina. The capital is located at the western end of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of South America. The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Province’s capital, which is the city of La Plata. Argentina generates a total of 16.5 million tonnes of solid waste a year (Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable, 2017). Buenos Aires Province (19,665 tonnes/day), the City of Buenos Aires (5,792 tonnes/day), Cordoba (3,780 tonnes/day) and Santa Fe (3,525 tonnes/day) are the districts that generate the largest amount of waste, collectively producing more than 70 per cent of the waste of the entire country (Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable, 2017 p. 648). In a country like Argentina, where the urban population accounts for 92 per cent of the total population, research on waste management in urban areas is of extraordinary significance. Thanks to the efforts of both informal and formalised urban recyclers, in addition to the effective official collection system, Argentina has a trash collection rate of 99.8 per cent, with 70 per cent of collection occurring daily (Inter-American Development Bank, 2011). In the city of Buenos Aires (CABA), more than 5,000 urban recyclers, organised in 12 cooperatives, are contracted on a formalised basis to collect waste on the streets daily. However, there are also over 9,000 informal urban recyclers in the city, who often sell to the cooperatives (World Bank, 2016, p. 85). The latter number fluctuates with the state of the national economy – in times of economic crisis, more people resort to informal urban recycling. The cooperatives set a good example for other municipalities regarding their organisation and formalisation, even if significant informal labour still persists. According to the Consejo Económico y Social de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (2014), 65 per cent of the population of the city of Buenos Aires separates waste. In contrast to this, other surveys have found that only 23 per cent of people separate their waste in CABA (Centro de Estudios Nuevo Milenio, 2016). The disparity in these estimates suggests that reliable data on waste-separation behaviour is scarce. However, The Consejo Económico y Social de la CABA also reports that 28 per cent of CABA’s population identifies waste as a major obstacle for environmental protection. This is reflected in the fact that the public service phone line received over 42,000 complaints related to inadequate waste disposal in 2016 (Devincenzi, 2018). Waste generation in CABA is quite high on a per capita basis. The city generates about 1.9 kg/person/day – nearly twice the national average of 1.03 kg/person/day (Secretaría de How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 23 Starting in early 2012, AMBA urban recycler cooperatives entered into cooperation with OPDS, the environmental authority of Buenos Aires Province, with the aim of increasing their recognition and improving their working conditions and income. Around 25 cooperative representatives, assisted by academics from the universities of Quilmes, Lanús, and Arturo Jauretche, as well as by technical advisors of INTI (National Institute of Industrial Technology), joined a “technical table” to assist OPDS in drafting regulations 137, 138, and 139 (interview Aca1, 2019). Sanctioned in 2013, these regulations mandate that large producers of recyclables contract a registered cooperative or company for the collection and processing of their materials (interview PubS1, 2019). Several cooperatives have since registered with the OPDS as “sustainable destinations”6 of waste produced by large generators. This allows the registered cooperatives to enter into waste management agreements with supermarkets, hotels, or industrial enterprises, and to issue a certificate recognised by OPDS stating the volume and type of treatment of collected recyclables. It improves their access to recyclables and, in some cases, guarantees them additional payment for the service of waste collection. That said, there is still room for improvement on the implementation of the OPDS regulation. Not all contracts involve compensation for the service aspect of the cooperatives’ work (interview Coop2, 2019). In some cases, the cooperatives’ only revenue is the value of the materials they receive from companies. Overall, fees are subject only to negotiation between the cooperative and the client company without the oversight of any official entity, and cooperatives are often in a weak position to negotiate (interviews PubS1 & Coop2, 2019). Furthermore, the OPDS lacks the database and the human and financial resources to enforce the regulation, so many enterprises do not comply (interviews PubS1, PrivS11 & Aca4, 2019). In some cases, cooperatives successfully enter into joint ventures with the private sector to jointly register as a sustainable destination, which helps them to benefit from the physical infrastructure and equipment of waste-management companies, such as dustcarts. In this framework the private companies usually collect and transport the waste from the large generators and then hand the waste over to the cooperatives, where the waste is sorted and treated. Because cooperatives do not receive public funds for purchasing vehicles and have little to no access to credit, this removes the pressure for them to make a large and potentially impossible purchase of equipment. This “contract model” between industry and recycling cooperatives may be seen as a first attempt at a small-scale model of extended producer responsibility (EPR). However, it is important for cooperatives to have the opportunity to become an official part of such a system. Otherwise, they risk losing access to large quantities of high-quality materials (interview Aca1, 2019). If enforced, this “contract model” may improve the cooperatives’ access to income from sales of high-quality materials and service provision, reduce the amount of waste going to landfills, and implement the polluter pays principle. Moreover, it can reduce public costs for waste management, which is among the largest budgetary item in Argentina (interview PrivS1, Aca1, 2019). Given that the services offered by cooperatives encompass not only waste collection, but also public education about waste separation and innovation in new products and technologies (Carenzo, 2018), their position to negotiate payment for the service aspect of their work needs to be strengthened. 6 Destinos sustentables, according to OPDS, are places for the physical treatment of urban solid waste registered under the terms of Regulation No. 367/10. Anna Pegels et al. 24 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 4.4 Legislative context To understand the sustainable management of waste in a given country context, it is important to consider the main aspects of the legislative framework. The context provided in this section covers the legal support for urban recyclers, the legislative progress towards limiting the quantity of waste sent to landfills, and the state of the legislative debates surrounding implementation of EPR programmes. Rights of urban recyclers Law 992/02 (2002) was the first law in Buenos Aires to officially recognise the contribution of urban recyclers to the recycling sector. The law was adopted in light of the 2001 economic crisis and the surge in the number of recyclers, especially in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. The law establishes the incorporation of recyclers into the public hygiene system of Buenos Aires and notes the importance of cooperatives (Schamber, 2016). It also contains provisions to design a plan for household waste separation and to reduce indiscriminate dumping of recyclable materials into landfills. According to the law, any additional profits generated by recycling and waste separation activities should be used to facilitate the work of urban recyclers, including measures to build their capacity, and to protect their health, hygiene and labour security. Last, but not least, the law foresees a permanent register of recyclers and cooperatives (REPyME), as well as education campaigns for the population of Buenos Aires about the role of recyclers (Federación Argentina de Cartoneros, Carreros y Recicladores, 2013). Basura Cero In 2005, the Basura Cero (Zero Waste) law was adopted in Argentina (officially, Ley de gestión integral de residuos sólidos urbanos – Comprehensive law on urban solid-waste management). The government introduced the law following pressure from civil society and cooperatives, and in light of the diminishing capacity of the landfills. The urban recycler cooperative El Ceibo and non-governmental organisations such as Greenpeace elaborated the law, together with the national government. Basura Cero foresees the progressive reduction of landfill waste while enhancing the recycling activities of the cooperatives. The original targets for landfill reduction were 30 per cent by 2010, 50 per cent by 2012, 75 per cent in 2017, and a total ban on final disposal of recyclables in landfills in 2020, with 2004 levels set as the baseline (Greenpeace, 2018). In addition, the law prohibits incineration of recyclables after 2020 and states, though it does not clearly define, the responsibilities of manufacturers for their products. Basura Cero aims to improve the inclusion of recyclers in the collection and transportation of recyclables. Furthermore, it seeks to improve access to loans, equipment, transportation, and technical assistance to enhance the inclusion of registered cooperatives into the formal waste management system. While the law was welcomed as a positive measure by many recyclers, Basura Cero has never been fully implemented. Moreover, the Basura Cero targets were modified in 2018 (Fundación Vida Silvestre, 2018). In 2008, the so-called Centros Verdes (Green Centres) were founded by the City of Buenos Aires (City of Buenos Aires, 2019a). The Centros Verdes are sorting centres managed by the cooperatives, and are part of a plan for the separation of dry and wet waste (City of Buenos Aires, 2019b). Since 2011, a new bidding process for residual waste management has been How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 25 introduced by the municipality. This has resulted in the signing of a contract between the Government of Buenos Aires, private waste management companies, and 13 cooperatives. Incineration In May 2018, Law 5.966 introduced several modifications regarding Basura Cero (Legislatura de Buenos Aires, 2018). In light of the estimation by CEAMSE that the landfill for Buenos Aires would reach its maximum capacity by 2023, the City Legislature of Buenos Aires decided to approve incineration. The modification was initially approved by 36 votes to 22 (Polack, 2018). According to the law, several waste-to-energy plants should be built within the next years. However, the technical specifications and costs were unknown and were not part of the political debate. Furthermore, the law changed the baseline year for zero waste from 2004 to 2012, introducing new landfill reduction goals of 50 per cent by 2021, 65 per cent by 2025, and 80 per cent by 2030 (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, 2018). The advocates of incineration see no alternative to burning waste and argue that only non-recyclable materials would be burned, leaving recyclable materials to the cooperatives (Polack, 2018). However, the 2018 law provoked the formation of a broad alliance against incineration, led by the Federation of Cartoneros (FACCyR) and NGOs such as FARN, Greenpeace, and other environmental organisations. The critics argue that incineration comes with high costs and generates local air pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions, while also risking the livelihoods of recyclers. The alliance against incineration and the opposition accused the Legislature of Buenos Aires of lacking transparency. Several cooperatives and NGOs thus filed a lawsuit against the Legislature. The 2018 law was revoked by court decision, as the court found violations against the principle of a “second reading” in the legislative process. It was ultimately declared unconstitutional in October 2019. Extended producer responsibility Chile is the only country in Latin America to have introduced a full EPR system so far, while a few other countries, such as Brazil have cautiously phased in EPR-like policies for certain products (e.g. tyres). In Argentina, there are currently no EPR policies in place. Several proposals are being discussed, most prominently for packaging, tyres and electronic waste. For the recycling industry and the urban recyclers, EPR policies in the packaging sector are most relevant. This is why our interviews largely focused on EPR in packaging. Several important questions regarding this are at issue. First, it is not clear for which types of products EPR should be introduced. For example, an EPR policy is currently being developed for electronic waste by the Argentinian Environmental Ministry (Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable: Secretaria de Control y Monitoreo Ambiental) (Hartmann, 2018), while the case for an EPR law for packaging waste is, by contrast, politically challenging. It is unclear whether the producers of the final products or the producers of the packaging materials themselves would be directly responsible for the costs related to the packaging. Additionally, there are companies that act on the fringes of informality. Large producers have expressed concerns that some “informal actors” would be exempted from the obligation, providing them with an unfair advantage. Second, industries and the municipalities are in dispute over the question of who pays what share of the relevant costs, whether a voluntary or mandatory scheme should be applied, and which entities should manage the EPR system and distribute the funds. Third, there remains the question as to whether any EPR system should involve the urban recyclers in its official structure and, if so, Anna Pegels et al. 26 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) how it would do this (interview Aca1, 2019). The urban recyclers see EPR systems as a potential way to finance their activity and to affirm their role as public service providers. However, not all stakeholders share the view that recyclers should play a key role in a packaging EPR system (interviews PubS8 & PrivS10, 2019). This debate has proved to be one of the main obstacles for the adoption of an EPR law concerning packaging. In 2018, two proposals for EPR in packaging were discussed in the environmental commission of the Argentinian Chamber of Deputies (Punto Verde, 2017). However, no final agreement could be achieved between the proposals. The Deputies Soria and Castro presented the first proposal, which was criticised by the urban recyclers for lacking any provisions for their inclusion. At question is whether they should play a formal role in the EPR implementation, given preference over other recycling actors, or whether there should be open competition between the private recycling sector and urban recyclers. The political demand of the urban recyclers is exclusivity in any EPR scheme. They argue that competition would lead to the destruction of several thousand livelihoods. Deputy Snopek (who is now Senator) and Deputy Soria, together with the urban recycler federation (FACCyR), developed a second proposal (Ley de envase con inclusion social – Packaging law with social inclusion), stating that any EPR policy must include the urban recyclers (interview Aca1, 2019). FACCyR organised several demonstrations against the Soria/Castro proposal, claiming this EPR policy would favour private companies and jeopardise the livelihoods of the urban recyclers by preventing them from accessing materials. While Argentinian industry does not wholly reject the idea of contributing to an EPR system, the argument against urban recyclers is that their collection system carries high costs due to inefficiencies, such as overly frequent collection (Colautti, 2018). They do not believe that they ought to be held responsible for the creation of what they consider to be an excessive number of formal jobs for recyclers. Therefore, the legislative process is currently interrupted and its continuation does not appear to be a strong priority in the political agenda. In general, other issues, such as the economic crisis, overshadow environmental topics. 5 Results and discussion 5.1 Synergies and trade-offs between the three pillars of sustainable waste management Analysing the sustainability of a waste-management system requires an assessment of existing and potential synergies, and trade-offs between the economic, social and ecological dimensions. The interviews conducted with a broad range of actors involved in the wastemanagement system offer insights into these relations. 5.1.1 Social and economic relations The social dimension in the given context is mainly characterised by the work of the urban recyclers and the cooperatives that fulfil an important social function. Notably, the possibility to work as urban recyclers and the organisation of that work through cooperatives provides a means of income generation to workers with low levels of formal education. How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 27 They offer jobs for newcomers to the labour market, as well as for people who cannot currently find employment in the formal sector. Importantly, labour opportunities in cooperatives are available to women, as well as men. The flexibility of the work allows it to be combined with domestic responsibilities, which predominantly fall to women in Argentina. In times of economic downturn, the collecting and reselling of recyclables provides a tremendously important, if imperfect, fall-back option that complements the incomes derived from the public social security system. Therefore, any discussions about changes to the system of waste management in Buenos Aires intrinsically include a social dimension. The importance of this function of the cooperatives and urban recyclers in the waste-management system is an important insight regarding the challenges involved in reaching a circular economy that is sustainable in all three dimensions (Gutberlet & Carenzo, 2020). There are several synergies between the social and economic dimensions of recycling. First, recycling activities re-introduce materials into the productive process and are the economic foundation of cooperatives and collectors of recyclable materials. The processing and sale of collected materials is not only financially essential for the cooperatives, but also ensures the continued fulfilment of their social function. Second, by diverting waste from the landfill, the recycling activities of cooperatives have a positive impact in terms of reducing the cost of the final disposal of waste. Currently, the municipalities and the city pay for every tonne of waste that is transferred to the landfill. Reducing that quantity through improved recycling activity would relieve some of the burden on public actors. The cost reduction for the public actors releases a surplus, raising the question of the redistribution of that surplus. Third, there is potential for cooperation between the cooperatives and the private sector, which could produce both economic and social synergy effects. Our interviews have shown that many actors from the private sector already collaborate with urban recycling cooperatives. For example, private companies and business or industry associations contract recycling cooperatives to manage their corporate waste separation; they provide them with their recyclable waste, and they buy their processed materials for the creation of new products. This cooperation allows the cooperatives to easily and efficiently acquire new materials for resale, while reducing the costs associated with waste collection and transport. In addition to the economic benefits for the private sector and the recyclers, such cooperation contributes to the implementation of regulations 137, 138 and 139 of OPDS in the province of Buenos Aires. In addition, the cooperatives act as suppliers of domestic materials, which is particularly important in times of currency devaluation or when prices on global material markets fluctuate. Such a link would appear to be beneficial for all actors. Unfortunately, many of these potential synergies are not currently being exploited, as both groups of actors – the private sector and the cooperatives – have reservations about the precise details defining their cooperation. Sometimes this collaboration is a mutual win– win situation, since urban recyclers achieve better access to materials and offer a cheap service for private companies. However, power asymmetries can lead to advantages clearly favouring one side if, for example, companies do not pay any service fees to the cooperatives. The question of service payment for recycling cooperatives plays a crucial role. We have found that it only exists in a very limited number of collaborations with the private sector. Anna Pegels et al. 28 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) The majority of recycling cooperatives remain without any service payment. Instead, they are expected to benefit from improved access to a larger quantity and better quality of materials, which allows them larger profit margins and the access to new markets. Despite this, one of our private-sector interviewees stated that their company has faced additional costs through such cooperation in comparison to other service providers also registered with OPDS as “sustainable destinations” (personal interview PrivS8, 2019). However, they view collaboration with cooperatives as a part of their corporate social responsibility or corporate environmental responsibility strategy, and see indirect benefits in co-innovating with cooperative members. It remains unclear what determines whether a company’s direct costs rise or fall as a result of cooperation with recycling cooperatives as a sustainable destination for their waste. Some potential determining factors could be the existence or absence of necessary infrastructure; the composition, quality, and quantity of the corporate waste; geographical distances; or the degree of facilitation provided by the public sector. Contracting recycling cooperatives as suppliers of input material, however, can be less expensive for companies than sourcing supplies from the private sector. Indeed, one of the interviewees from the private sector confirmed to us that they had saved costs through their cooperation with recycling cooperatives in this regard (PrivS4). Many companies clearly stated, however, that informality is an obstacle to contracting cooperatives (interviews PrivS4, PrivS6, PrivS8 & PrivS9, 2019). Progress towards formalisation and inclusion in the market incentivises cooperatives to professionalise and increase efficiency. It may also, however, endanger some of the aforementioned social advantages. At the same time, the cooperatives note that they often feel that they occupy a weak position compared to other actors in the negotiation process (interviews Coop1, Coop2, Coop13, 2019). This demonstrates that a relationship of trust between the individual actor groups is of supreme importance in achieving a more efficient system through improving cooperation. This not only applies to the relationship of cooperatives with the private sector, but also with consumers and intermediaries. While the situation and needs of the cooperatives vary with the circumstances of the municipalities in which they operate, a point frequently raised in the interviews concerns the general shortage of infrastructure as a bottleneck to increasing efficiency. This has a negative impact not only on the profits of cooperatives, but also on their function as a social safety net. The cooperatives lack machines and the necessary sources of financing, especially when it comes to increasing the value of materials through the different steps in the processing. Improved access to these production goods could improve the position of the cooperatives and help to generate higher revenues. The financial incentive also motivates cooperatives to invent new products and production steps. The invention of new recycling processes and the creation of new markets for produced materials is particularly environmentally friendly and can make a decisive contribution to strengthening the recycling economy in Argentina. Without access to machinery, however, the efficiency and innovative potential of the cooperatives is limited, compounding the difficulty of profitable implementation of the aforementioned cooperation models with the private sector. How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 29 5.1.2 Social and environmental relations There are also synergies to be found between the social dimension and environmental protection. Due to the fact that a state-supported recycling system has not been fully established, the urban recyclers are currently central players in Argentina’s recycling branch. However, this potential is not fully exploited. In addition to the structural difficulties with economic efficiency, the activities of the cooperatives are weakened by the low and volatile market prices of the materials they collect. This limits the range of materials cooperatives can profitably collect, with a high share of potential recyclables still going to the landfill. A good example of this is the recycling of glass. Due to the high ratio of weight to volume and the consistently low market price, cooperatives often decide against collecting glass, leaving empty bottles and other glass products in the waste containers or on the kerbside next to them. Offering an incentive or stable price to support the collection of less profitable materials would have a significant positive effect on the amount of material that is recycled and on the stability of incomes of cooperative members. The introduction of an EPR scheme for packaging may be one way of financing a stabilisation of the market for these materials with low and volatile prices. Another synergy between the activity of the urban recyclers and environmental protection is the engagement of recyclers in education and information campaigns on household waste separation. The General Directorate of Recycling of the municipality of Buenos Aires, for instance, engages recycling cooperatives as environmental promoters to foster and teach recycling behaviour to local households and neighbourhoods. Waste separation is a challenge for the implementation of a sustainable recycling sector in most Argentinian municipalities, with the notable exception of some progress made, for example, in Buenos Aires City. Many of our interviewees noted a need for improvement, in particular in the separation of organic waste (interviews NGO1, NGO4, PubS8, Coop2 & Coop5, 2019). In the interviews, the public’s overall lack of environmental awareness and education was highlighted as a problem. In general, interviewees signalled a desire for more active communication with regard to urban recyclers and their work. However, one interviewee noted that many households face challenging economic times, exacerbated by the steeply rising cost of public services and frequent strikes by political parties or powerful trade unions (interview Coop13, 2019). This may limit social cohesion and the general willingness to contribute to public goods, such as environmental protection. The social organisations, the political parties, and the labour unions come out every day to block the streets for one reason or another, so you can’t get to your work. Public transport goes to hell, and the public hospitals… And you are asking me to separate? You are asking me to separate glass and plastic when you have just raised electricity tariffs by 400 per cent? (interview, Coop13, 27 March 2019)7 7 “Las organizaciones sociales, los partidos políticos y sindicatos salen a cortarte la calle todos los días por algún evento, entonces vos no podés llegar a tu trabajo. El transporte público anda para el carajo, el hospital público… ¿Y me pedís que separe? ¿Me venís a decir que separe el vidrio y el plástico cuando acabás de subir 400 per cent la luz?” (interview Coop13, 2019). Anna Pegels et al. 30 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 5.1.3 Economic and environmental relations In general, the current situation in Argentina leads to economic topics such as growth, poverty reduction, and private-sector development taking precedence over environmental issues in public debates. If a sustainable recycling sector is to be created, it is important to identify synergies between the economic and environmental incentives. In principle, municipal governments have an economic incentive to divert as much material as possible from disposal in landfills, since they pay by quantity for the disposal of waste (per tonne). As long as the alternative treatment is more cost effective, it is preferable in economic terms. Recycling or composting part of the material is one option. However, disposal of municipal waste in sanitary landfills is often subsidised by national or provincial governments in order to relieve the communities financially (interview PubS6, 2019). Many municipalities of AMBA benefit from public funding regarding their final waste disposal in the landfills of CEAMSE. In many cases, this leads to municipalities being charged low waste-disposal fees and to limited economic incentives for improved recycling systems to be implemented at municipality level. A system of disposal fees that reflects the true costs would be more in line with economic efficiency and with environmental protection. Another challenge is to increase the efficiency of waste collection. In most areas of AMBA, collection takes place seven days a week, which is considered excessive by many of our interviewees. It also represents one of the main budget items of the municipalities. Most actors recommended reducing the number of collection days per week, with one day reserved for differentiated collection of recyclables (interviews PubS4, PubS5, PubS8, PrivS10, PrivS11, 2019). However, a challenge for this kind of change was highlighted by one interviewee, who stated that municipal governments often hesitate to change waste collection contracts for fear of political opposition from truck drivers’ unions (interview NGO3, 2019). 5.2 Contributions of stakeholders to a sustainable recycling system After highlighting potential synergies and trade-offs between the three dimensions of sustainability, the next step is to outline the contributions that can be made by the different actors in the waste and recycling system towards achieving sustainability. With a view towards contributing to improved transparency in the waste and recycling system, this section collects the demands and expectations made of the various actors in the interviews conducted. Consumers and local households Consumers and local households are asked to increase their awareness about the separation and disposal of their post-consumer goods and products, and to contribute to a functioning waste and recycling system through domestic waste separation (interviews NGO1, NGO4, PubS8, Coop2, Coop & PrivS4, 2019). Since consumers play a crucial role in the recycling process, at the intersection of consumption and waste collection, they are called upon to take more responsibility in that role. Recycling cooperatives, environmental promoters, and the How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 31 public and private sectors ask that private households separate their domestic waste and that they either make it available on the indicated dates for the urban waste collectors and private waste disposal companies, or dispose of it at the Green Points or in the indicated recycling containers. [...] another problem is that in our country there are many other unmet needs at the societal level, which people will always confront you with, for example: ‘You come to ask me to go to the trash can to separate the plastics, but I go out on the street and they kill me or rob me. (interview PrivS5, 14 March 2019.) 8 Since contaminated material can often not be recycled at a reasonable cost, private households are also asked to separate their waste properly into “dry” (recyclable) and “wet” (non-recyclable) waste, as well as sorting out hazardous waste that could lead to serious environmental damage. The positive experience of the General Directorate of Recycling of Buenos Aires City in engaging urban recyclers in awareness campaigns could become a role model for other municipalities. At the same time, interviewees mentioned that households’ propensity to contribute to the common good may be low as long as the public sector has not found solutions to other pressing problems, such as crime rates and poverty (interviews PrivS5 & Coop13, 2019). Public sector Interviewees from civil society, the private sector, and recycling cooperatives request that the municipalities of AMBA comply with their responsibility to manage urban waste and to put in place an adequate recycling system (interviews NGO1, PrivS1, Coop2, 2019). To ensure the proper realisation of such a system, the municipalities are called upon to coordinate and monitor implementation. Moreover, they ought to assist in the creation of new markets for recycled materials and products in order to expand economic gains and the profitability of recyclables. […] in general, in each municipality, and no matter how small, there are cartoneros [...], and they should be included in a formalised recycling system, because in principle we don’t have much more. Obviously, we say that this has to include pension expenses, that is, retirement; what is called here the monotributo social; a salary; work tools; and the necessary infrastructure so that you can do the job. And that should be provided by a municipality. (interview NGO1, 14 February 2019.)9 Many also demand that the public sector strengthen and integrate recycling cooperatives in the provinces. In many cases, interviewees from recycling cooperatives, academia, and 8 “[...] otro problema es que en nuestro país existen muchas otras necesidades no satisfechas a nivel sociedad, en donde la gente siempre te va a sacar a relucir, por ejemplo: ‘Vos me venis a pedir a que yo vaya al tacho de basura a separar los plásticos, pero yo salgo a la calle y a mi me matan o me roban.” (interview PrivS5,.2019) 9 “[...] en general en cada municipio, y por más chico que sea, existen cartoneros [...], y esos deberían estar incluidos dentro de lo que es un sistema de reciclados formalizado, porque en principio no tenemos mucha más. Obviamente decimos que eso tiene que incluir los gastos previsionales, es decir, jubilación, lo que se llama acá el monotributo social, que tiene que tener un salario, que tiene que tener herramientas de trabajo y que tiene que proveerse de infraestructura necesaria para que pueda realizar ese trabajo. Y eso lo debería proveer un municipio.” (interview NGO1, 2019) Anna Pegels et al. 32 German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) NGOs criticised the lack of public support for recycling cooperatives, especially in the province of Buenos Aires. They ask that more support be provided to the cooperatives in the following areas: • The formalisation and administration of their respective organisations (interviews NGO1, NGO2, 2019) • Inclusion into the social wage (Salario Social Complementario), more paid positions, and higher subsidies in the province of Buenos Aires, in line with what is observed in CABA (interviews NGO1, NGO6, 2019) • The provision of social security and childcare options for cooperative workers (interview NGO1, 2019) • The provision of necessary infrastructure to recycling cooperatives (machinery, transportation, working clothes, capacity building, public funds, public space for stockpiling of materials) (interviews NGO1, NGO4, Coop1, Coop2 & Coop13, 2019) • The assurance of equal workers’ rights to recycling cooperatives (interviews NGO1 & Coop13, 2019) • Payment for the service aspect of urban recycling, similar to the management of residual waste (interviews NGO4, Aca1, Coop1 & Coop13, 2019) • Support for bottom-up innovation processes (interviews Aca1 & Coop1, 2019). The Provincial Organisation for Sustainable Development (OPDS) is expected to foster and to facilitate more partnerships between private companies and recycling cooperatives, according to existing provincial law regulations 137–139 (interview Coop2, 2019). The OPDS is called upon to promote and to activate new contracts between “large waste generators” (e.g. supermarkets, hotels, large companies) and “sustainable destinations” (e.g. recycling cooperatives, private waste disposal companies). OPDS ought to engage more in environmental conservation, in facilitation of cross-sectoral agreements, and in monitoring processes. It should also contribute to the implementation of service payments for the recycling cooperatives as equal service providers. Furthermore, the public sector should adopt a new legal framework for the waste and recycling sector. Nearly all of our interviewees suggest that waste legislation needs to be updated. In this regard, one demand is to update and expand the already existing National Strategy for Integrated Urban Solid Waste Management (Estrategia Nacional para la Gestión Integral de Residuos Sólidos Urbanos: ENGIRSU) from 2005. The critics claim that ENGIRSU does not take into account recent developments such as the discussions around extended producer responsibility and, hence, is outdated and inappropriate (interview NGO2, 2019). Most of the above suggestions unfortunately depend on scarce financial resources. In many cases, the regulating, coordinating, and enforcing functions requested from municipalities can hardly be met with current staffing levels. Similarly, the extension of the social wage payments to new beneficiaries would require the political decision to make funding available. The solutions implemented in Buenos Aires City may not be financially feasible for many of the surrounding municipalities. The introduction of an extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy could make a contribution to financing the above measures, but the decision over the use of funds from such a system would also be a political one. How sustainable is recycling? Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 39 with the private sector. Waste-transfer companies have the necessary infrastructure for the collection of recyclables, while cooperatives have experience in managing recycling plants, provide a workforce for more labour-intensive separation and processing steps, and have longstanding experience with processing the materials. More capital-intensive steps of material processing could then be taken over by private-sector actors. Any reform of the system, however, would need to be based on reliable data. Most of our interviewees confirmed a large data gap with respect to types, qualities, and quantities of recycled and traded materials, and also with respect to information on the workforce employed in urban recycling. Future research could contribute, first, by mapping and consolidating existing but fragmented data, and collecting further data where needed. Second, more knowledge on communication strategies and incentives frameworks to motivate consumers to separate their waste is needed. This would not only help to improve the quality of recyclable materials, but also to protect urban recyclers’ health and safety. Third, research on the political economy of the waste sector could contribute to navigating the interests and power constellations inherent in the waste sectors of many countries, including Argentina. Ultimately, such research would aid these countries in finding politically acceptable solutions that are in the interests of social, environmental and economic sustainability. 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Reconciling the social, ecological, and economic dimensions in Argentina German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) 47 Annex: List of interviews Date Category Unique ID Ongoing consultations Academia Aca1 08.03.2019 Academia Aca2 08.03.2019 Academia Aca3 28.02.2019 Academia Aca4 18.02.2019 Cooperative Coop1 20.02.2019 Cooperative Coop2 20.02.2019 Cooperative Coop3 25.02.2019 Cooperative Coop4 25.02.2019 Cooperative Coop5 27.02.2019 Cooperative Coop6 27.02.2019 Cooperative Coop7 27.02.2019 Cooperative Coop8 27.02.2019 Cooperative Coop9 06.03.2019 Cooperative Coop10 06.03.2019 Cooperative Coop11 07.03.2019 Cooperative Coop12 27.03.2019 Cooperative Coop13 19.02.2019 Cooperative Coop14 14.02.2019 NGO NGO1 28.02.2019 NGO NGO2 07.03.2019 NGO NGO3 11.03.2019 NGO NGO4 28.03.2019 NGO NGO5 28.03.2019 NGO NGO6 06.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS1 06.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS2 13.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS3 14.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS4 14.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS5 26.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS6 27.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS7 28.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS8 29.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS9 29.03.2019 Private Sector PrivS10 25.04.2019 Private Sector PrivS11 11.02.2019 Public sector PubS1 19.02.2019 Public sector PubS2 12.03.2019 Public sector PubS3 13.03.2019 Public sector PubS4 26.03.2019 Public sector PubS5 28.03.2019 Public sector PubS6 12.03.2019 Public sector PubS8 29.03.2019 Public sector PubS7 Publications of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) Discussion Papers 22/2020 Serraglio, Diogo Andreola. 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