Programme Reciclocidades – Incentive for Talent that Recycles

The Reciclocidades was implemented to strengthen community relationships and contribute to the generation of work and income, the reduction of social inequality, female empowerment and the longevity of natural resources. It offers solutions to problems and needs that affect society, mainly aimed at women in socially vulnerable situations, who are trained to transform solid waste into new products that can be sold. Its main objective is to generate work and income for socially vulnerable women over the age of 16 by training them, through socio-educational and recycling workshops, to transform solid waste (paper/cardboard, vinyl canvas, fabric, newspaper, CDs) that would otherwise be discarded in the environment, overloading landfills. Between 2021-2023, over 4012kg of waste have been recycled and more than 40 thousand people have been supported.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

Reciclocidades has been operating for 14 years and is considered a social innovation because it offers an alternative to problems of social inequality and employability through a low-cost, environmentally responsible, long-term sustainable and replicable solution.

Its main objective is to generate work and income for socially vulnerable women over the age of 16 by training them, through socio-educational and recycling workshops, to transform solid waste (paper/cardboard, vinyl canvas, fabric, newspaper, CDs) that would otherwise be discarded in the environment, overloading landfills. The team is made up of 7 craftswomen, 1 educator and 1 social worker who lead the groups formed in the communities and carry out the other activities.

The programme operates on four fronts:

Formation of Productive Groups (GPs): this takes place at the request of the association/institute, which mobilises the women interested in taking part in the meetings. A territorial diagnosis is made of the area and initial recycling workshops are held to analyse group dynamics and cohesion. Each group has between 12 and 25 participants and a reference craftswoman who will work on craft techniques and recycling waste for three years. The meetings take place one week a month, on Tuesday to Friday afternoons, totalling 12 hours a month, in addition to remote support. In the third year of follow-up, the GP is analysed by the programme team and, once it has reached maturity, it is certified by Cagece. This means that the participants are able to enter the labour market through handicrafts. All the waste used in the groups is donated by partner companies and the work tools are provided by Cagece.
One-off workshops: aimed at sensitising the general population to environmental causes. They are of short duration (one shift), in which they teach how to make a product from the solid waste chosen for the workshop.
Minicourses: an immersion of 20 hours a week, ending with a fair of the products made during the classes. The methodology is the same as presented, but the target audience is waste pickers and CREAS/CRAS beneficiaries, with the aim of expanding the possibilities for generating income for this public. Its main partners are the municipal Social Action Departments.
Socio-educational events: these make it possible to publicise the programme, prospect for partnerships and sell the products made by the GPs. 100% of the income from sales mediated by the Programme is distributed to the participants of the groups.

A future proposal is to formalise the Reciclocidades Programme into an Institute, in order to expand its reach, increase product sales and carry out the selection process for new GPs via the publication of public notices aimed at third sector organisations.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

The Reciclocidades Programme is a social innovation for environmental protection and community relations because:

It is an accessible alternative for social change, providing a creative response to economic, social and environmental problems.
It generates work and income, contributing to the well-being of participants and local development.
It has a positive environmental impact, as it removes different types of waste from the environment, giving life to landfill sites and promoting the circular economy.
It encourages responsible consumption and production.
It promotes mental health by intervening in social aspects that impact on the individual's self-perception as a participant and contributor to the community in which they live.
It encourages entrepreneurship and combats unemployment, social and gender inequality.
It brings environmental education to the general public through practical recycling workshops.
It is a programme that works on the sustainability trifecta throughout its chain.

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

Partner private companies donate the waste generated in their production process to be used as raw materials in the production of products. Third sector organisations provide the space in the community where the workshops take place and mobilise participants for the GPs. Other state and municipal bodies support the programme by promoting it in publicity spaces. They are all sources of encouragement, including citizens, as they place orders, generating income for the participants in the GPs.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

Neighbouring communities: The GPs take place in communities served by Cagece. Generating income for the participants boosts the local economy.
Environment: solid waste is recycled, generating a positive and direct environmental impact.
Community organisations: request the programme in their community and give up their spaces for GP meetings, strengthening their work in the region.
Citizens: specific workshops work on environmental education for all age groups.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

Methodologies: performance indicator, waste weighing, sales control, participant testimonials.

Qualitative and numerical results:

Social inclusion for low-income women
Increase in the volume of recycled materials
Income generation for GP participants
Proper management of solid waste
Incentive for partners to adopt sustainable practices
Promotion of gender equality and female empowerment
Promotion of mental health and quality of life for women
40,388 people reached and made aware; R$217,508.32 raised and distributed to GPs; 33 GPs monitored, 198 women certified
4012.49kg of waste recycled (2021-2023)

Future results: creation of an institute, generation of direct employment

Challenges and Failures

Partnerships generate requests for orders and invitations to take part in events. As it is a social responsibility programme with no legal regulations governing its operation, orders for legal entities come up against the impossibility of the programme issuing invoices, which are essential for controllership. At fairs, the payment option is restricted to cash sales, which reduces the flow of consumers.
The controls of the individual environmental and economic impact were not carried out.
Legal consultancy was hired to indicate the best alternative for formalising the programme; in July 2021 the weighing of the collected waste began and, in March 2023, the control of the individual sales made by the members of the GP was started.

Conditions for Success

As this is a programme of a specific nature, the team of artisans needs to be trained and accredited to the state/municipal handicraft professionalisation programme. In addition to qualified professionals, it is essential to:

strengthen partnerships with all sectors in order to promote sales, publicise the programme, receive waste and mobilise the community;
vehicle infrastructure to run the workshops and take part in events;
support from senior management to maintain the team and tools to run the workshops;
standard operating procedures for carrying out the process;
leadership committed to social and environmental values;
establishment of indicators to monitor the programme's progress.

Replication

Cagece is not aware of the programme being replicated by other organisations or of any similar actions that cover the whole cycle: from waste collection to direct income generation. Its replication is possible as long as it has a team of artisans who are skilled in making products that use waste as a raw material and have the teaching skills to train workshop participants. Reciclocidades requires a low level of investment in order to operate and requires efficiency in finding partners to donate the waste and who support the programme's axes. The methodology used is integrated with community participation and can therefore be adapted to any area that recognises its objectives.

Lessons Learned

Social and environmental responsibility should not only be implemented by public policies and large organisations. As citizens, we also cause impacts that must be mitigated, generate waste that must be disposed of correctly and experience social privileges that are not extended to a large part of the population. Being directly involved with the programme has made me aware of the need to adopt even more environmentally friendly behaviours, to value handicrafts, to admire human creativity, to rethink my consumption and to continually seek to structure Reciclocidades in order to expand it and transform the lives of more low-income women, contributing, through my work, to the society of which I am a part.

Anything Else?

Reciclocidades was born from the real problems of the community, seeking intersections with environmental issues, and the four fronts of action seek to encourage changes in habits that are related to sustainable development. In 2022, Cagece hired 02 women to join the Programme's team of artisans and who were members of the production groups. Since 2022, it has been certified with the Green Seal of Socio-Environmental Action by the Chico Mendes Institute's Certification Programme for Commitment to Socio-Environmental Responsibility, and was awarded by the Institute as a success story. The seal communicates to society the commitment to sustainability and the experience in its processes of conscious practices of respect for life and the environment.