Partnership between local government and Klabin aims to make the municipality an example in solid waste management

Paraná, November 26, 2021 – To become a 100% circular region in which glass, paper, aluminum, metal and plastics are processed, reused and recycled instead of being disposed of in landfills. That is the goal of the project in which the Municipal Government of Telêmaco Borba and Klabin have joined forces in a partnership with Hub Incríveis, an innovation network focusing on the circular economy and causing positive impacts. The project "Telêmaco Borba – A 100% Circular Region (TC100)", as well as its goals and challenges, were announced in an event held on Friday (26). 

Telêmaco Borba is Brazil’s first municipality to implement a project of this size, and the plan is to use it as a model and inspiration for other Brazilian cities. The initiative also draws on the support of ViraSer, a reverse logistics program that accelerates, trains and professionalizes municipal recycling systems by strengthening the work of recycling professionals, mainly through their associations. ViraSer also operates in five other municipalities participating in Klabin’s Solid Waste Program, which is a partnership between the company and the Caminhos do Tibagi Consortium, which, since 2012, has been contributing through actions to improve environmental indicators in Telêmaco Borba, Ortigueira, Imbaú, Tibagi, Reserva and Rio Branco do Ivaí. 

The new project’s major challenges include increasing the packaging recycling rate as much as possible. To achieve this, in the first phase called TC100 carried out in 2021, Hub Incríveis conducted a detailed diagnosis, which indicated that the municipality recycles only 12% of packaging annually. Given this scenario, the project mapped the region's main problems and challenges in waste management and suggested paths and opportunities for maximizing its recycling potential. Under the project, local governments and cooperatives, as well as the public and private entities, can work together. The actions suggested range from improving cooperative structures, training and developing leaders to supporting environmental education initiatives and proposing the creation of marketing networks for recycled products. 

The data show that Telêmaco Borba is already on the right path. The selection of the region as the pilot project for TC100 is explained by the advances in the actions conducted by the local government and Klabin’s Solid Waste Program. In 2021, an effort was made to strengthen the municipalities’ cooperatives by developing leaders and improving logistics and production efficiency. Other actions included incentivizing environmental education and expanding sales of materials. One of the best indicators of success was the growth in sales volume and the increase in the average income of cooperative workers by over 200%, as well as improvement in the health, hygiene and safety of workers. 

The second phase of the TC100 project, which will take place next year, consists of expanding environmental education actions in the municipality, strengthening recycling by implementing a new methodology (returnable bags) and installing voluntary waste collection points. The project also will expand the marketing network for recycled packaging and propose improvements in the waste management laws of Telêmaco Borba. 

"Transforming Telêmaco Borba into a 100% circular region is part of fulfilling in practice Klabin’s Sustainable Development Goals (KSDG), the so-called Klabin 2030 Agenda aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to reduce impacts and increasing the planet’s sustainability," said Uilson Paiva, Klabin’s Community Relations and Social Responsibility manager. One of Klabin’s goals is zeroing, by 2030, the disposal of industrial waste in landfills. 

"We are very engaged in this project, which is the fruit of a partnership between the local government and Klabin. We believe that it will become a socioenvironmental milestone for Telêmaco Borba and, with everyone’s participation, inspire other Brazilian municipalities to improve their waste management and packaging circularity," said Luis Fernando Matos, Telêmaco Borba's Municipal Secretary of Urban Planning & Environment.

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