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Delterra's Work in Livelihoods
Improving livelihoods through circular solutions
We believe that circular economy solutions are not just about reducing waste. They’re also about empowering communities and driving lasting change in people’s lives.
According to the Circulate Initiative, there’s an estimated 40 million informal waste workers globally. Working outside of the confines of a legal and formal waste management system, these waste workers are vulnerable to marginalization in ways that include human rights abuse, gender inequality, and insufficient incomes.
As part of our work in circularity, we work with partners and government actors to enact fair circularity principles through inclusive and collaborative approaches to waste management, capability building for workers, and understanding local context to create local solutions.
Impact by the Numbers
At Delterra, we measure our progress and ambition against our core success metrics: environmental and social impact. These numbers highlight our ability and ambition to deliver system-wide change on large-scale environmental problems while improving people’s lives.
800+
Waste workers trained through dedicated educational sessions
4k+
Community members who participated in capacity building activities
200%
Increase in salary achieved for waste workers
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Women in Circularity
With the support of Beiersdorf, and in collaboration with Cooperativa Baires and the Buenos Aires City Government, we launched Argentina’s first low-value plastic washing plant mostly operated by women. Officially inaugurated this May, the project is part of Beiersdorf’s Women in Circularity initiative.
Twelve incredible women now lead the plant’s daily operations. They are transforming plastic waste into opportunity and building brighter futures for their communities.
We’re deeply grateful to Beiersdorf for helping turn this vision into reality.
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Education and Training
As part of our social inclusion and well-being initiative, we support waste workers through training, helping them advance on their journey to becoming professionals. This prepares individuals from local communities to become integral players in the waste management hierarchy.
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Delterra is a 501(c)(3) public charity.