Nowadays, numerous studies, articles, and reports emphasize the urgent need to rethink our lifestyle. Today, the "throwaway culture" is obsolete. The welcome trend is society embracing the challenge of changing our way of life to consume, produce, and waste less.

 

No matter where you are reading this—Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, the United States, or Madrid—the message is the same: recycle.

 

In Pucón, a town in southern Chile's La Araucanía region that is popular for adventure travel and has 30,712 residents (which can more than double in size during the busy summer season), local government officials and residents are finally taking action by implementing a successful recycling program. With a recycling center called a punto limpio (clean point) that is almost three-years-old and two mobile punto limpios, the town can rightly be held up as a model.

 

Several environmental projects were presented to town leaders, but the idea of a municipal recycling center emerged as a short- and long-term solution to reduce the amount of trash in landfills. Furthermore, as Pucón is a tourist town, it was also a priority to present alternatives that would reduce the environmental impact of the massive influx of tourists during the busy season.

 

With the residents of Pucón ready and willing, the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, together with regional environmental authorities, formally invited the Municipality of Pucón to join the first national network of recycling centers. Evelyn Silva Quiñeiñir, the director of sanitation, beautification, and the environment for the Municipality of Pucón, says town leaders were thrilled. "The mayor and town council approved the initiative, and we began searching for municipal land in green areas designated for facilities." Pucón ultimately decided to locate its punto limpio where several neighborhoods, educational facilities, and services converge.

 

Chile's recycling centers aim to increase the national recycling rate by providing a way for people to dispose of their recyclable waste through municipal infrastructure that centralizes the management of materials. There, the materials are not only collected, but also compacted for reuse and subsequent sale to authorized destinations. Nationwide, Chile has 98 punto limpios. La Araucanía regional officials say the plan is to eventually have 11 such centers throughout their region.

The Pucón recycling center has a total area of 1,000 m² and includes a reception area, an environmental education room, public restrooms, a cafeteria, staff restrooms, parking, a processing facility, and outdoor storage. The processing facility is equipped with a compactor, a baler (a machine that compresses materials into rectangular bales), a scale, and 12 separate spaces for storing recyclable materials.

 

Additionally, the facility has an environmental education room where workshops, seminars, and other events are held to educate the community about recycling and the environment. Schools and kindergartens are frequently invited to attend so that future generations can learn more about these issues.

 

The town also has at least 20 punto verdes (green points)—sites set up to receive glass, plastics, vegetable oil, batteries, and even organic waste from residents.

Local recyclers come to these sites to process the raw materials and turn them into new, useful products. One such company is Pock, which transforms plastic into durable, high-strength outdoor furniture and children's playground equipment. This ensures that plastic, which has a lifespan of 100 to 1,000 years, will be re-used rather than discarded in landfills, rivers, or other public and natural spaces.

 

Currently, six people work at Pucón's Punto Limpio, helping local residents sort their waste, such as glass bottles, plastics, cans, paper cartons, and other materials, into the appropriate bags.

 

In the first two years, the Pucón recycling center received more than 10,000 visits and trained more than 1,000 people on proper recycling methods.

 

The evolution of the recycling center is remarkable. Between 2023 and 2024, the amount of recycled material increased by 30%, from 241 tons to 312 tons.

 

Mónica Pinaud, head of Pucon’s environment department, asserts that the success of the recycling center is evident, pointing to an increase in the amount of material collected and the high demand for recycling training among local residents.

 

Adds Evelyn Silva: “The recycling center is not just a place to recycle materials; it is a concrete tool for environmental education, citizen participation, and action against the climate crisis. We are preventing tons of waste from reaching landfills and, at the same time, giving new life to materials that can be reused.”