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Bendito Residuo

Location
Chile

Programme
Latin America Accelerator
in partnership with NESsT  

Site url
www.benditoresiduo.cl

Bendito Residuo collects and sorts waste from Chile valuation facilities, all while offering transparent waste management services and training programs to its clients

In Chile, unsustainable waste management contributes significantly to increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions globally but is often not addressed. A recent study from National Geographic (2019) even shows that 40% of the world’s trash is burned in large open piles while the remaining is accumulating in landfills.

The enterprise was born from a desire to address these issues and further support Chile’s growing awareness of the environmental implications of bad waste management. By offering clients visibility into how their waste is recycled and processed Bendito Residuo educates company client employees about sustainable practices. Resulting in businesses reducing their carbon footprint and allowing them access to metrics that they can communicate among their stakeholders.

Besides wanting to create more environmental awareness, Bendito Residuo is also aware of the rapidly expanding labour force due to the increase in immigration to Chile that has left many migrant workers in extreme poverty. With limited access to education resources and fierce job competition, the migrant population struggles to find sustainable employment to support themselves. Therefore, Bendito  Residuo decided to directly employ low-income immigrants who face discrimination and lack of information during the hiring process, in the hopes of solving this problem.

NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship partnered with Bendito Residuo for its commitment towards equipping migrant workers with the skills that they need to build careers in Chile and to rise out of poverty.

Programme support:

With the recent introduction of waste management and extended producer laws (EPR) in Chile, NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship will support Bendito Residuo with tapping into new market opportunities created by these regulations and expanding its operations by opening new recycling centres in four regions in Chile.