In Cartagena, Colombia, hundreds of waste pickers make a living collecting plastic. Often earning very little for the material they recover.
Trofica is working to change that by focusing on something practical: helping recyclers collect more material and earn more from the same effort.
Trofica, a young social enterprise based in Colombia, works on both the supply and demand sides of recycling. On one side, the company partners with restaurants, apartment buildings, and hotels to create more efficient collection systems and ensure a consistent supply of recyclable material. On the other hand, it builds relationships with buyers willing to pay a premium for sorted and compacted plastic.
That coordination makes a significant difference for the recyclers Trofica works with. In just six months, the company helped increase recycler incomes by 73%.
Today, Trofica partners with more than 600 recyclers in Cartagena — many of whom are among the city’s poorest workers. By improving infrastructure and creating more reliable market access, the company is helping waste pickers capture more value from the material they recover every day.
Beneficial Returns provided Trofica with a $30,000 loan to support the purchase of new recycling equipment. Their new rPET production line is now operational and capable of sorting and compacting up to five times more material than before.
That kind of upgrade matters. Better processing leads to better prices, and better prices translate directly into more stable incomes for the people doing the work.
Trofica’s model is straightforward but effective: improve the system, and the benefits reach hundreds of households while reducing plastic waste in the process.
This is the kind of practical, locally grounded business model Beneficial Returns aims to support — enterprises that create economic opportunity while addressing environmental challenges in their communities.
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