Over 40,000 Montevideo homes sort waste, achieving record material collection

Montevideo is making significant strides in waste management, with over 40,000 households actively participating in waste classification. This widespread adoption of new sorting systems, including intradomiciliary containers and selective collection, has resulted in a record volume of recovered materials.

The initiative is part of the city's Strategic Environmental Agenda, specifically the "Sustainable Homes" program. This agenda outlines 18 actions designed to transform the capital's cleaning and waste management model over 18 weeks. The strategy emphasizes separation at the source, aiming to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and increase recycling and composting rates.

Montevideo's plan involves gradually replacing public street bins with household-specific containers and implementing a door-to-door collection service for recyclables. This shift is expected to reduce street litter and improve pedestrian flow. The city's environmental development director, Leonardo Herou, reported that nearly 40,000 intradomiciliary and intra-property containers have been distributed, alongside the collection of 563,000 tons of recyclable materials from participating homes.