Project Updates

The Recycling Program only included three neighborhoods, since it was consider a pilot project. However, thanks to the great response of the local community and the urgent need to continue with it, since September 2003, the project has been expanded from these three neighborhoods to cover the whole town of Puerto Ayora.

An important part of this project is our involvement with the local population with an input of environmental education. In a joint effort with the Municipality of Puerto Ayora and the Galapagos National Park we carry out an educational program to separate garbage in its origin.

A very successful door-to-door campaign has been initiated in the town of Puerto Ayora to classify garbage at its origin, providing the inhabitants with hemp sacks to separate the recyclable materials, which will be later collected and brought to the Recycling Center for further processing.

The educational campaign was conducted together with the Galapagos National Park and the Municipality. It aimed at teaching the local community about the process of separation and classification of solid waste and about the collections system. The door-to-door campaign included the work of local volunteers, most of them students; informative material for each household; radio and TV motivational spots, together with an educational campaign in local schools.

The local community has responded in a very positive way. However, there is a need for more campaigns to reinforce the habit of garbage classification.

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A platform with protective roof is currently under construction to install a special machine that makes paving tiles with cement and recycled ground glass.

The goal is to set up a production line of patio blocks (from ground glass), whose local sales will generate income that will help us cover for some of the expenses of the project as well as provide construction material produced locally.