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Solid Waste and Secondary Raw Materials in Latin America and the Caribbean: Source of Resources and Revenue in the International Market

May 17, 2024 Por Magda Correal - Alfredo Rihm - Carolina Piamonte Leave a Comment


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Exports of solid waste and secondary raw materials generate annual earnings of over US$23 billion for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

More than 2% of total merchandise exports in Latin America and the Caribbean consist of secondary raw materials and solid waste, generating an average annual income of approximately US$23 billion. In contrast, these materials represent less than 1% of total merchandise imports, with an average annual outflow of close to US$5 billion.

Solid waste and secondary raw materials are resources that can be used for manufacturing new products that generate income within the circular economy framework. The demand for these materials in the international market encourages governments and businesses to implement better solid waste management policies and programs.

Figure 1: Historical data of merchandise exports and percentage of solid waste and secondary raw material exports (in US$, between 2012 and 2021)

How do we define solid waste and secondary raw materials?

Solid waste refers to materials that are discarded and have no utility in their original form, such as PET bottles or aluminum cans recovered in sorting plants. Secondary raw materials or by-products are leftover materials from production processes that can be used to make other products, such as soybean derivatives (pellets, soy lecithin, or glycerin) which are generated during soybean oil production.

Solid waste and secondary raw materials with the highest flow in the region

Organic materials lead international trade as they represent 81% of the total export value in monetary terms and 62% of the total import value. They are followed by soybean derivatives.

Metal waste and secondary raw materials – mainly steel, copper, and aluminum derivatives – are the second most traded, accounting for 16% of the total export value analyzed and 18% of the import value. Solid waste and secondary raw materials (paper, wood, plastics, etc) are traded to a lesser extent.

What is the destination and origin of these materials?

Brazil and Argentina generated over 78% of the foreign currency derived from trade in this sector, followed by Mexico and Peru. The Asia-Pacific region received 52% of the export value, with China, Indonesia, and Vietnam standing out as the main destination countries. The Western European region received 23% of the total export value, with Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy being the main destinations.

Figure 2: Export and import of solid waste and secondary raw materials (in US$ in 2021)

Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador import more than 55% of the total in monetary terms from the United States (47% of the total import value), Bolivia and Argentina (40% of imports).

Figure 3: Main trading partners for exports and imports (in US$ in 2021)

The Solid Waste and Circular Economy Hub provides data, statistics, and visualizations to understand this commercial dynamic in Latin America and the Caribbean. Visitors can visualize data by country, region, year, as well as types and average prices of traded materials.

May 17th: International Recycling Day, what is the recycling rate in your country?

The Solid Waste and Circular Economy Hub provides data and statistics on municipal solid waste management, such as the annual amount of waste per capita, collection coverage, treatment method (recycling, composting, and proper or improper final disposal), greenhouse gas emissions, and sector costs and revenues, among other data.

This Hub is an initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank supported by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Methane Hub, which seeks to support countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in improving sectoral information, advancing towards digital transformation, enabling informed decision-making, driving innovation, and promoting efficient solid waste management within the circular economy framework of the region.

Visit https://circularwastehub.org/

Related Pages and Publications

  • Regional Material Flow Assessment: Municipal Solid Waste EVAL for Latin America and the Caribbean 2023 (October 2023)
  • Towards the Valorization of Solid Waste in Latin America and the Caribbean: Basic Concepts, Feasibility Analysis and Public Policy Recommendations (January 2022)
  • Solid Waste Management in Latin America and the Caribbean. (August 2015)

Guest Authors

Lourdes Durón Suárez was a consultant in the Water and Sanitation Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and works with the solid waste team, focusing on the management and analysis of information regarding waste management and the implementation of a more circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is an economist with a Master’s in Project Management, an MBA, and a specialization in economic and social research methodologies. She has extensive experience in the formulation, evaluation, and management of development projects, municipal management, finance, solid waste, and leadership in technical cooperation projects.

Constanza Berron is a consultant in the Water and Sanitation Division of the IDB. She is an environmental engineer with five years of experience in the private sector and research, working on projects focused on data analysis and the implementation of circular economy strategies for electrical and electronic products, food waste, and plastic materials. She was a Fulbright scholar and earned a master’s degree in Sustainable Systems from the Rochester Institute of Technology in the United States.


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Sanitation

Magda Correal

Magda Correal is a Senior Specialist in the Water and Sanitation Division of the Inter-American Development Bank. During her 20 years of professional experience she has worked for multiple public and private companies, including multilateral banks, national and local governments, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, utilities, among others. She has done extensive consulting work throughout Latin America on public policy development, economic, technical and institutional regulatory frameworks, cost analysis, project planning, structuring and evaluation of projects for the provision of public services, among other activities. She is the author of several publications on these subjects and is frequently invited as an international lecturer. For more than 10 years she led her own consulting firm. The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) recognized her as an International Expert in Waste Management. She is a civil engineer with a master's degree in Business Administration from Durham University (UK) and a master's degree in Environmental Engineering from the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) and a scholarship holder of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Alfredo Rihm

Alfredo Rihm joined the IDB in September 2011 as a Water and Sanitation Specialist Alfredo holds a master’s degree in Urban Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He has thirty-one years of experience in municipal, urban, industrial, medical, and hazardous waste management; chemicals substances management; waste and soil sampling; and contaminated sites. His experience includes auditing, design, and project management, as well as teaching at graduate and postgraduate levels, and training. Alfredo has been Professor of Hazardous Waste Management at the University of Chile, and Professor of Solid Waste Management at the University of Santiago.

Carolina Piamonte

Consultant in the Water and Sanitation Division of the IDB. During her 8 years of experience in the waste and sanitation sector she has worked for the public and private sector in Colombia, leading projects related to the inclusion of waste pickers, circular economy, regulation, and service provision. Currently, she supports the Bank's waste team through the development of strategic projects, technical notes, knowledge products, initiatives monitoring and partnerships, among others. Carolina holds a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, and a master’s degree in environmental technology: Economics and Policy from Imperial College London.

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