Amazonian arm of the Natura Elos program, the Rios Vivos project, an initiative of the Natura &Co group (Natura, Avon The Body Shop and Aesop) which since 2019 has been dedicated to structuring the chain of recyclable materials for packaging of the Natura &Co group, now has a Fund to support the expansion of activities in the region, managed by Sitawi.
The Living Rivers Fund will drive the structuring of sustainable post-consumer plastic chains assisted by the project, leveraging greater volumes of recycled materials for the manufacture of Natura's packaging. Through the Fund, Natura &Co will make contributions that will be used to improve the cooperatives located in the centers already created, and to expand the project to other locations in the Amazon. THE Sitawi will manage the Fund's financial management, facilitating, providing transparency and guaranteeing traceability in the processes with the cooperatives.
Currently, it is estimated that more than 90% of the plastic items that reach the oceans are transported by rivers – and the Amazon basin is the main route for these materials to the sea in South America. The collection, separation and recycling of these wastes, which can be used as secondary raw materials for the packaging industries, for example, are mechanisms that help to reduce the impacts of this irregular disposal.
In April of this year, Médio Juruá, the first center created by Rios Vivos, collected more than 500 kilos of plastic from ten riverside communities, in a business model that transforms the volume of waste delivered by each family into credits to be used in the local market. Waste that would flow into the streams and the bed of the Juruá River is now sent to the Nós Podemos Recyclable Material Collectors Association, located in the municipality of Carauari, in the state of Amazonas.
In the city of Manaus, the Rios Vivos project mobilized six associations to collect post-consumer plastic. The perspective is to recover a total of 60 tons of PET and PP plastics in 2022. The most recent initiative is the implementation of the first nucleus in the State of Pará. In May, Rios Vivos selected and signed a partnership with the first cooperative in Belém.
“Maintaining the standing forest also depends on the health of the rivers and, therefore, on the proper collection and disposal of waste in these locations,” says Sergio Talocchi, reverse logistics manager at Natura &Co. In this sense, he reinforces that the work developed with Amazonian cooperatives contributes to the conservation of this watershed, which is so important for the country, in addition to contributing to the reduction of waste destined for landfills and dumps.
By promoting circularity and remunerating the people involved in the recovery of materials in the Amazon region, the project reinforces Natura's three causes: Amazônia Viva, as it contributes to the conservation of the biome by collecting solid waste that compromises forest ecosystems; More Beauty Less Garbage, by promoting recycling, helping to reduce the volume of plastic that reaches rivers and seas; and Cada Pessoa Matters, by promoting the social inclusion of waste pickers, professionalizing the sector and generating income.
The initiative also reiterates the goals established by the group's Vision 2030, which addresses three main fronts: tackling the climate crisis and protecting the Amazon, ensuring gender equity and social inclusion, and embracing circularity and regeneration in all of the company's businesses. company.
For Talocchi, the next step is to engage other actors, in addition to Natura &Co, in contributions that help to structure these recycling chains. “We are following a path similar to the one we have followed to build sociobiodiversity chains for more than two decades, now focusing on waste. Through the training and strengthening of these cooperatives, we will contribute to strengthening the recycling chains in the Amazon”, he adds.
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