But because recyclers have operated as unorganized individuals, they have been exploited by intermediaries and private companies that purchase recyclables at very low prices. Some private garbage dumps hire recyclers in exchange for a cart, and then oblige them to sell their pickings at low prices.

El Ceibo is working to make recycling clean, safe, dignified and economically viable. By taking out loans and raising revenues from recycling, it is giving recyclers access – for the first time – to equipment for handling trash, places to store collected refuse, competitive markets where they receive fair prices for their recyclables, and the necessary credit and information to organize their own recycling businesses.

Buying metal at a storage shed

By organizing the recyclers, El Ciebo is commercializing the recycling businesses and creating competitive markets. It is using proceeds from a loan to build storage sheds throughout Buenos Aires where materials collected by El Ciebo members and other cooperatives can be stored until they command a good price. By eliminating intermediaries, members' income is boosted by about 50 percent.

Sorting aluminum cans in a shed