Member Profile: Asociación de Recicladores de Bogotá (ARB)
Asociación de Recicladores de Bogotá (Bogota Association of Recyclers - ARB) is an association of 25 waste pickers groups from Bogota, representing over 2500 people. ARB has been working since 1990 to defend waste pickers rights. It functions as a Union, being the voice of waste pickers, advocating for their inclusion as formal waste management service providers and representing them in dialogues with public and private sectors.
ARB has achieved an impressive level of organization in Bogota, and currently negotiates contracts with the private and public sectors, provides training to waste pickers, and works to include waste pickers and their families in formal social and health programs. It has achieved remarkable legal victories. It has achieved positive judgments from the Colombian Constitutional Court demanding the government of Bogota to take affirmative actions to include waste pickers in that system. It has also been working against waste privatization and incineration in the city.
ARB has participated in the creation of the Asociación Nacional de Recicladores (Colombian Association of Waste Pickers) and is one of the promoters of the Latin America Waste Pickers Network (Red Lacre) that facilitates the cooperation of waste picker groups from 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is also part of an international alliance-together with GAIA and other organizations-promoting Zero Waste strategies that include waste pickers as real climate solutions. To learn more about ARB, visit their website (in Spanish).
