6,000
metric tons per year of organic waste diverted from landfills
6,000
metric tons per year of organic waste diverted from landfills70,000
metric tons CO2 equivalent per year capturedCLIENT | Canadian Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Challenge |
Solution |
Impact |
A global effort to combat climate change
According to the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change, the changing climate will have widespread effects on human life and ecosystems. It brings heat waves, flooding, droughts, intense tropical cyclones and rising sea levels, while damaging biodiversity.
To combat climate change, the Canadian government has committed $2.65 billion by 2021 to help country partners around the world reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, transition to low-carbon economies and make positive contributions to a global cleantech revolution.
As part of this commitment and the 1997 Chile-Canada Agreement on Environment Cooperation, Canada is helping Chile meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2007 levels by 2030. Currently in Chile, 38 landfills collect over 5 million metric tons of waste and emit more than 4,000 gigagrams — or 4 million metric tons — of greenhouse gases annually.
In 2017, Arcadis partnered with the Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Chilean Ministry of Environment to develop Reciclo Orgánicos — a four-year program that provides funding of 7 million Canadian dollars for capacity building and technical assistance to support innovation and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Chile’s municipal waste sector. When the program concludes in 2021, the Chilean Ministry of Environment will take over Reciclo Orgánicos and potentially design a nationwide expansion utilizing the lessons learned.
Combining our proven waste management competencies in Canada and broad sector environmental and regulatory expertise in Chile, Arcadis is providing program management support and technical design expertise to plan and implement the waste management strategies.
Taking a comprehensive approach to waste management
Reciclo Orgánicos is a comprehensive approach to becoming a sustainable waste management system. It involves designing processes to support Chilean municipalities in treating organics as a resource and not as a waste stream. Beneficial organics utilization strategies include composting and anaerobic digestion. Captured landfill gas can be used as fuel for transportation and power generation. In addition, a robust and transparent mechanism is being designed for monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gases mitigated.
The program utilizes innovative approaches to financing, leveraging co-financing from public and private sector partners for a suite of planned projects while soliciting additional support from international development institutions for future expansion.
Stakeholder engagement is a key component of the program, raising awareness and encouraging citizen participation in communities, schools and institutions, while simultaneously training municipal staff through in-person sessions and online workshops.
Benefitting communities across Chile
Expanding anaerobic digestion, composting and landfill gas capture capacities
By aligning Canada’s and Chile’s vision of a sustainable, low-carbon future with our environmental expertise, Reciclo Orgánicos continues to deliver on Arcadis’ commitment to improving quality of life in rapidly growing regions around the world.
Visit the Reciclo Orgánicos website for more information.
6,000
metric tons per year of organic waste diverted from landfills70,000
metric tons CO2 equivalent per year captured7
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