Duration:
Dec/2017 - Jun/2025

Total LACIF contribution (€):
11 700 000

projected total investment size (€):
67 900 000

Types of Support:

• Investment grants
• Technical Assistance

Sectors:

• Waste Management

COUNTRIES:

Argentina

Lead financing institution:

Co-financing institutions:

Jujuy is an Argentinean province located in the Northwest of the country, bordering Chile and Bolivia. Jujuy's income per capita ranks amongst the lowest in the country, employment rates are lower than the national average, informality is high and households living in vulnerable conditions are twice the national average. Management of solid waste is deficient, and part of the population does not have access to basic solid waste services.

Although recollection rate of solid waste reached 70% as of 2019, there was a lack of treatment facilities, so waste was not separated and it was usually dumped into non-engineered sites. Most of these were open air dumps without sanitation measures where waste pickers concentrated, and in which 64% of the workers were children according to UNICEF.

This lack of waste management also increased costs for sanitation and water treatment, contributed to the deterioration of the natural environment and the devaluation of land and was a source of soil and air pollution, also causing a risk of uncontrolled fires. Besides, it also had negative impacts on the overall health of local population and their quality of life.

“Now we have fixed working hours (...). We are protected from sun and rain. Much better than how it was before(...). This is the only secure job I have” -
Estela, former waste-collector, now an employee at the Jujuy Environmental Centre.

The European Union teamed up with EIB and IDB to improve the management of urban solid waste in Jujuy. The action’s objectives are to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases and eventually improve population’s life. The EUR 88 million project aims to avoid the dumping of untreated waste, to improve recycling performance, therefore recovering energy and materials, and to create employment related to waste treatment. This initiative covers the following:

• construction of new waste management infrastructure, i.e. sanitary landfill and composting centre, transfer and sorting stations,
• rehabilitation of existing waste management infrastructure, i.e. 400 open dumpsites,
• provision of equipment, machinery and vehicles needed for the collection, sorting and recycling of waste,
• production of renewable energy in the newly constructed biogas plant,
• strengthening of local entities and policy strategies in line with the Green Jujuy Carbon Neutral 2030 Plan,          
• social and economic inclusion of waste collectors, formalizing their labour situation.

The EUR 11,7 million LAIF contribution has helped finance waste collection equipment, the construction of the biogas plant, and the construction of a disposal centre, three sorting stations, a composting facility, six waste transfer stations and sixteen small waste collections points. LAIF provided the funds for technical assistance to accompany the project implementation and to strengthen the technical capacities of local authorities, while promoting the respect of labour laws, for instance on child labour.

The project has prominent environmental benefits, as well as substantial social advantages. The new waste collection and treatment infrastructure creates economic opportunities for waste pickers, as they are trained to perform formal jobs in the newly created sites. Entrepreneurship workshops for women are also organized, giving them safer job opportunities.

Moreover, the Jujuy Integrated Waste Management Project contributes to the priorities set for the Global Gateway Investment Agenda for Argentina and to the enhancement of Waste Management to ultimately improve the daily life for the population while ensuring climate-friendly investments.

• 600,000 inhabitants of Jujuy benefitting from the improved waste collection system
• Recovery of 23,000 tons of waste per year
• Reduction of 150,000 Co2 ktons equivalent per year
• Creation of 500 jobs during the construction phase and 200 permanent jobs in the new waste management system or as entrepreneurs