Olavarría: A lighthouse example for scaling municipal waste transformation
Almost five years ago, Delterra began working with the City of Olavarría, Argentina, to prove that it is possible to transform a municipality’s waste management system to be more circular. The goal was to do this in a way that dramatically boosts recycled materials, is as cost effective as possible and can be model scaled to other cities.
There are very few organizations that do this hands-on work and make it globally relevant and replicable. And by no means did everything go perfectly. But as the project comes to an end and is embedded in the city’s ongoing operations, we want to share our main learnings and insights in hopes that they will be valuable for other cities and organizations.
A major thanks to the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Amcor for sharing in our vision and making this work possible.
Main Learnings from Our Experience in Olavarría
1. Start with Existing Systems and Address Inefficiencies
One of the first lessons we learned was to work within the existing system and focus on improving inefficiencies at the beginning. Instead of starting from scratch, we optimized what was already in place. For example, mixed waste was collected six days per week. The city was reluctant to cut the frequency because of job implications, but we were able to work with them to change the collection routes and materials. So, there are now certain days for recyclables, organics and mixed waste.
One creative and efficient use of resources was to deploy the same trucks for different types of material but to put a giant magnet on the side saying which material was being collected that day. Not only did that save the city money from avoiding buying new trucks, but it also helped to build trust in the system because citizens felt that their waste was being managed separately rather than being mixed together– a common perception challenge in many cities globally.
2. Takes Time, But It’s Crucial for Long-Term Success
Changing how people think about and act on waste is one of the most challenging parts of a project like this. We found that shifting mindsets takes time, but it’s necessary for long-term success. In Olavarría, face-to-face behavior change—like door-to-door education—was essential to making the recycling system work. If materials are not separated at households and businesses, then the rest of the system will be more costly and ineffective (see our research that shows behavior change is up to 80% cheaper than mechanical recycling alone).
A well-designed and executed behavior change campaign should be the cornerstone of any municipal waste system that seeks to have maximum recycling rates. But changing behavior is not only building awareness – about the environment, recycling, green jobs, the city’s cleanliness or civic duty. It is about inquiring into the deep motivations of citizens to create human bonds that ultimately allow you to “enter homes” and change habits.
The final outcome has to be people doing things differently to how they were doing them before, bridging the gap between motivation and taking action. We have published more in-depth insights on Delterra’s behavior change methodology and results here.
3. A Broad Range of Stakeholders
Through this experience, we realized that waste management transformation doesn’t happen without broad support. While local political backing is important, we also learned the value of engaging a wide range of stakeholders, including families, small businesses, waste worker cooperatives, recyclers and plastic producers. This coalition of support ensured that the program had long-term staying power and helped us navigate challenges, especially political shifts. Creating this broad base of support is essential to maintaining momentum and ensuring sustainability.
4. Co-Design Solutions with Local Teams to Build Long-Term Ownership
Another critical learning was the importance of co-designing the system with local teams. Rather than imposing solutions from the outside, we worked closely with the municipal team to design the waste management system together. For example, the municipal waste and recycling system was rebranded as GIRO (Gestión Integral de Residuos de Olavarría- Integrated Waste Management of Olavarría), including a marketing campaign with radio ads, billboards and other behavior change materials (for example, magnets with collection days, flyers, stickers, and a Whatsapp chatbot). Crucially, there is no branding of Delterra, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste or Amcor – all branding is focused on city ownership. This collaboration meant we made changes more slowly at times, but it was essential for building local capacity and ensuring that the system would be owned and managed by the city, even after we stepped back.
Five pilots were designed, implemented and evaluated in conjunction with the municipal team. This not only allowed for all actors to be part of and responsible for the program, but also ensured that, at the end of the process, they were capable of implementing and improving it with their own resources.
5. Try to Include the Informal Sector in Formal Systems
A main lesson for us has been the importance of starting with the existing waste workers—listening to them and meeting them where they are—to support their smooth integration into a more structured waste management system. The informal sector consists of individuals engaged in waste management activities outside formal systems, often under precarious conditions. However, they are not a single, uniform entity. People within this sector operate with varying needs, habits, resources and capacities. Through Delterra’s work, we have learned that these complexities can be understood and addressed, enabling the design of inclusive systems that benefit not only informal workers but also citizens and governments. There is no one-size-fits-all solution—effective integration requires working closely with each stakeholder to find the most suitable approach within the local context.
6. Address the Unique Challenges of Recycling Organics
Delterra is committed to finding circular markets for all municipal solid waste materials – not just plastics. Despite the massive potential in reducing landfill volumes and highly potent methane emissions, organic waste presents a unique set of challenges. In Argentina, approximately half of municipal solid waste is organics. In collaboration with the city, we assessed the feasibility and designed, then built a new composting plant, which has the capacity to process 10 tons of organic waste per day and the possibility of doubling the capacity if needed. The challenge is to continue encouraging business and residents to separate their organics at the source, overcoming barriers such as fear of odor and dirt. We have learned that being able to show the end product results – for example, providing residents with free compost from organic waste – is key to driving uptake and trust in the system.
Looking Ahead: Replication and Scaling
Building on these learnings, we are now focused on scaling Detlerra’s Circular Cities methodology across Argentina, Brazil and Indonesia. The success in Olavarría provides a blueprint that we can adapt to other cities, taking the lessons, we’ve learned and tailoring them to meet the unique needs of each location.
Our ongoing projects, like our low-value plastics recycling work in Buenos Aires, are already developing new frontiers in circular waste management, particularly when it comes to challenging materials like flexible plastics. These initiatives not only aim to increase recycling rates but also to prove that waste management can be economically viable while benefiting the environment.
Conclusion
The transformation of Olavarría’s waste management system has shown us that a combination of strategic planning, community engagement and adaptability can lead to sustainable change. The lessons we’ve learned – working within existing systems, engaging the informal sector, co-designing with local teams and focusing on behavioral change- have been instrumental in our approach.
As we expand and replicate this model in other cities, we’ll continue to adapt and refine our methodology, creating scalable solutions that can be implemented globally for more sustainable, inclusive and efficient waste management systems.
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