Latin America - Delterra

Delterra in Latin America

Delterra is an environmental nonprofit that turns global circular economy ambitions into local action. We started with a pilot in Barrio Mugica, an informal community of ~40,000 residents in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2019 and have since expanded across Argentina and into Brazil. Our next stop: transforming waste management systems of across Latin America.

Impact in Argentina

Over the past several years in Argentina, Delterra has: piloted inclusive waste collection and behavior change models in Barrio Mugica, Buenos Aires’ largest informal settlement; successfully scaled these approaches to Olavarría as a proof of concept for citywide adoption; and is now working with a cohort of municipalities representing approximately 20% of the country’s population to strengthen recycling participation, improve system efficiency, and inform national dialogue on equitable, scalable waste management solutions.

Impact in Brazil

In Brazil, Delterra has launched a pilot in Guaxapé grounded in in-depth ethnographic research to understand household behaviors and system bottlenecks; developed detailed user profiles and mapped critical pain points across the local waste management system; translated these insights into a citywide behavior change blueprint; and is now working with a cohort of cities to adapt and scale this model, strengthening recycling participation and informing more effective, people-centered waste management systems across diverse municipal contexts.

Impact by the Numbers

At Delterra, we measure our progress and ambition against our core success metric: environmental impact. These numbers highlight our ability and ambition to deliver system-wide change on large-scale environmental problems while improving people’s lives.

1.5M+

Directly benefiting from redesigned waste collection systems and behavior change campaigns

10x

Increase in recycling rates in cities like Olavarría through full-system interventions (from 1% to 10%)

1k+

Workers impacted through improved working conditions and skills building

Our Partnerships in LatAm

Our work in Argentina has been executed in partnership with Alliance for Plastic Waste, Amcor, Dow, McKinsey & Co. and Beiersdorf, among others.

"Five years ago we embarked, as part of the City of Buenos Aires Government, on the Barrio Mugica integration project, an historic transformation of one the City’s most emblematic informal settlements. Although hard infrastructure issues were the most pressing ones, we strongly believed that inclusive, collaborative projects focused on sustainability also had their place. Rethinking Recycling’s Barrio Mugica project is one of these highly successful initiatives. It partnered with City staff and 13 local labor cooperatives to provide the residents with door-to-door waste collection and recycling services: a win-win for everyone. Cooperatives now benefit from the income generated by the sale of recyclables and local residents are increasingly proud of their improved surroundings."

Donatella Orsi

Director of Economic Development, Ministry of Human Development, Buenos Aires City

Building Brazil’s Path to Organic Waste Transformation

Learn More

Report: Unlocking Flexible Plastics Recycling

Read Now

Case Study: How Buenos Aires is reducing methane through smarter organic waste management

Learn More

Delterra on Social Media

Partner with us

Help shape the future of circularity in Argentina

Delterra is a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Privacy Policy