Tree · Bogotá, Colombia
Asociación de Recicladores de Bogotá (ARB)
Recycling without recyclers is just rubbish · Bogotá's waste pickers organised since 1990
Since 1990Works across the regionSabana de Bogotá, Eastern Andes
- waste pickers
- recicladores
- cooperative
- recycling
- public sanitation
- labour rights
A cooperative association of recicladores de oficio (waste pickers) in Bogotá, co-founded in 1990 by Nohra Padilla and fellow recyclers. ARB provides recycling services within the city's public sanitation system, supplies recovered material to the recycling chain, and campaigns for waste pickers' recognition, pay and social protection.
ARB brings together associated waste picker organisations and represented around 3,000 recyclers in 2016. Co-founder Nohra Padilla received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2013 and also helps lead Colombia's National Association of Recyclers (ANR). In 2025 and 2026 ARB's site has shared ANR positions on the new sanitation tariff framework and Decree 0271 of 2026 on a social protection network for recicladores.
What they need
Can you help? We'll take it to them.
- Fair tariffs and payment for recycling services
- Social protection for recicladores
- Household separation at source
What they offer
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- Recycling collection within Bogotá's sanitation system
- Decades of experience in waste picker inclusion
- Peer learning for other recycler movements