Amcor supports McKinsey’s Rethinking Recycling initiative in Argentina

Amcor, a global packaging producer with headquarters in Zurich, has partnered with McKinsey.org to help with the nonprofit’s Rethinking Recycling initiative in Buenos Aires, Argentina. McKinsey.org is a nonprofit that was founded by McKinsey & Co., a global consultancy. The Rethinking Recycling initiative has worked with 5,000 households, trained 120 workers and helped communities in Buenos Aires to recycle one-third of materials that had previously gone to landfill.

Founded in 2018, Rethinking Recycling develops scalable models that transform how communities manage waste, targeting households and businesses. The program works with cities to build community programs that maximize recycling while improving working conditions in waste management.

According to a news release from Amcor on this partnership, there was no formal recycling system in these communities before the Rethinking Recycling initiative stepped in. In Argentina, Rethinking Recycling started with a pilot project in Buenos Aires’ Barrio 31 and has now been scaled up in Olavarría, a larger city in Buenos Aires province. The three-year project aims to fully rollout a recycling program across the entire city. Beginning this year, it will launch a series of pilots to test and improve recycling in the community before expanding in 2022 and 2023.

Amcor says the Rethinking Recycling initiative aligns with its 2025 Sustainability Pledge and commitment to collaborate with partners globally to promote better waste management and recycling infrastructure. To help with the initiative, Amcor reports that it is leveraging its customer network to expand support for the initiative from leading consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. Additionally, Amcor reports that it has collaborated in the organization of workshops with supply chain partners and helped McKinsey.org to develop a city selection process for the Rethinking Recycling program.

“Amcor is pleased to be working with Rethinking Recycling to help to deliver a sustainable recycling system that could be applied in communities globally,” says David Clark, Amcor’s vice president for sustainability. “Developing recycling infrastructure is critical in building a circular system that works and McKinsey.org’s initiative will complement our existing efforts to collaborate to keep waste out of the environment.”

“Amcor has believed in and supported our vision for a world free of waste from the very beginning of the Rethinking Recycling program,” says Larissa Sakamoto, program manager at McKinsey.org. “With a shared commitment to creating sustainable waste ecosystems, Amcor’s investment is an important step in empowering every community to build green, economically sustainable recycling systems.”