Barranquilla Swaps Old Refrigerators for Efficient New Models in Low-Income Homes

Barranquilla has begun replacing old refrigerators in vulnerable households to keep discarded appliances from being abandoned on street corners or in the city’s streams.

The latest distribution gave 300 new, energy-efficient refrigerators to families in socioeconomic strata 1 and 2 who benefited from the city’s housing improvement program. The initiative operates within the Barranquilla Limpia y Linda strategy and involves Blueraees, the company responsible for receiving the old appliances.

Blueraees, an environmental manager for waste electrical and electronic equipment, will safely extract gases from the refrigerators, recover metals such as iron and salvage parts that can still be reused. The city says the process reduces the immediate environmental impact of the waste and prevents appliances from being dismantled informally.

The administration described the scheme as an operational response while Barranquilla works to strengthen its circular economy. Some materials that cannot be recovered still end up in landfill, it said. The city also noted that true circularity begins with reconsidering products at the design and manufacturing stages, alongside efforts to make appliances more recyclable.

With the latest handover, Barranquilla says it has distributed 5,356 efficient refrigerators through the housing improvement program. For recipient families, the replacement also brings lower energy consumption and savings on monthly electricity bills.