Dear Friends,

Before diving into our latest updates, I’d like to start by thanking you for your interest and support of Delterra’s work developing circular markets in different countries.

Today I’d like to share some highlights from the past few months and some opportunities to meet in the months ahead!

Strategic Partners see Bali programs firsthand 

A standout moment for me this past quarter was the whirlwind week of hands-on experiences in Indonesia alongside Delterra’s Strategic Partners. I am so grateful to our inaugural group – Amcor, Dow, Mars, Minderoo Foundation, and P&G – for joining us on this journey.

Together, we witnessed firsthand the positive impact our collaboration is having on local communities, visiting several waste and recycling sites where we’re working and where we plan to work, to create a circular and scalable model for materials that were previously landfilled or ended up in the environment.

I was inspired by our partners’ enthusiasm and affirmation of our strategic systems approach, backed by data, to solving waste management issues. It was also helpful to put our heads together around the challenges we are tackling, including economic, regulatory and informal sector integration. A key takeaway was the shared commitment to addressing low-value plastics like flexibles and multi-layer packaging in Indonesia. So you can expect to hear more from us on this front in the coming months!

Low-value plastics get a new lease on life

In Argentina, it’s exciting to see our innovative flexibles pilot picking up speed. Teaming up with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and recyclers D&D, we are boosting processing capacity for low-value plastics, creating markets for previously unrecycled materials and incentivizing sustainable practices.

Through capacity building, strategic investments in processing equipment and connecting end buyers with recyclers, our Buenos Aires pilot has recycled over 900 tons of low-value plastics since August 2022 and is poised to scale exponentially.

Brazil’s cities invited to apply

Perhaps our biggest milestone so far this year? Launching a Circular City Challenge in Brazil and inviting cities to revolutionize their waste management systems, fostering sustainable and healthy communities.

This call for participation from Brazilian cities is part of our work expanding our Rethinking Recycling program into Brazil. Applications are open until the end of April, so please share it within your network.

Indonesian village graduates from Rethinking Recycling program

Our team in Indonesia celebrated a milestone with the Bali village of Tegal Kertha successfully graduating from implementation to self-management. The Rumah Organik (organics house) is the very first organics processing facility in the village and is set to be the blueprint for waste management projects to come.

We are now building on what we learned in Denpasar and examining the Regency as the unit of scale to roll out integrated waste management systems to new areas in Bali going forward.

Equipping those on the frontlines of sustainable packaging

At a time when plastic pollution is worsening and pressure is growing from investors and consumers alike, there’s a pressing need to better equip those navigating the shift towards sustainable packaging.

Our team spoke with over 100 companies from the consumer packaged goods industry about the main barriers they face and how innovative tools like Packaging IQ can help overcome them.

As we enter the crucial stages of negotiations for the UN Global Plastics Treaty, I recommend reading the article we’ve just co-authored with our partner Systemiq in GreenBiz.com, highlighting the indispensable role of better data, innovation and collaboration in effecting system-level change.

Meeting stakeholders in Ottawa, Buenos Aires and São Paulo 

We’re excited about participating in INC-4, as well as upcoming events La Nación Sustainability Event and ICLEI World Congress. If you or your colleagues are attending any of these events, I invite you to connect with us to share ideas and find new ways to scale our impact together! These opportunities will further our mission and strengthen partnerships for a better tomorrow.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our shared goals. We’re always interested in hearing from current and potential partners that want to work with us, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Warm wishes,
Shannon Bouton
President & CEO, Delterra

In the Press

• GreenBiz | Sustainably wrapped: Overcoming barriers to circular packaging
  Ahead of INC-4, Delterra’s Alina Jurcola and Systemiq’s Yoni Shiran share the three main barriers companies face on the road to sustainable packaging. Read more

Around the Web

• 📘It is great to see Delterra’s Rethinking Recycling program showcased in the Solutions Playbook published by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, with examples from our behavior change work in Olavarria. Read more.
• 📰Delterra is teaming up with Brazilian non-profit, Recicleiros to develop the source separation behavior change program for households and businesses. Learn more.
• 📈The material traceability project in Argentina is in full swing, aiming to trace 30,000 tons of recycled materials in 2024. Thanks to our partners Empower for their #TechForGood enthusiasm. Learn more.
• 🎥Grateful for the collaboration with Beiersdorf in Argentina, where we are working to enhance waste recycling infrastructure, promote a more inclusive society and boost recycling rates. Watch the video.