Industrial and Commercial Strengthening of the Laudato Si Multiactive Cooperative (COMULASI)

JPIC

Justification

Since 2016, waste recyclers in the city of Cochabamba have improved their organization and working conditions, culminating in the establishment of Bolivia’s first cooperative providing recycling and environmental services. The Laudato Si Multiactive Cooperative (COMULASI) operates a recycling processing plant in Quillacollo, located 15 kilometers from Cochabamba’s city center.

The plant’s projected production volume is expected to increase the cooperative’s annual revenue to Bs 400,000, marking a significant turning point for members’ livelihoods. To achieve this, the cooperative must strengthen its administrative and commercial capacities to: Efficiently and systematically produce goods such as humus, worms, leachate, microbial broths; eco-friendly bricks and pots; plastimadera planks, shavings, and filament; pressed cardboard sheets; and ashtrays, nightstands, and vases made from recycled glass. Competitively market these industrialized products in the local market under an integral ecology and circular economy framework.

Location

Quillacollo – near Cochabamba

Local Partner

JPIC Bolivia

Objectives

General Objective: Promote the socio-economic development of the Cochabamba community by enhancing its participation in environmental protection through an integral ecology and circular economy approach.

Specific Objective: Strengthen the industrial and commercial capacity of the Laudato Si Multiactive Cooperative (COMULASI) to improve the living conditions of waste recyclers.

Target Population

(52 families).

Project Duration

Budget

Funding

TAU, Ay. Iruña (31.545€)

Activities:

  • Provide advisory services and support for strengthening the industrial operations of the COMULASI processing plant.
  • Offer training, guidance, and support to recyclers to standardize and implement the cooperative’s industrial processes.
  • Provide advisory services and support for enhancing COMULASI’s commercial operations.
  • Deliver training, guidance, and support to recyclers for implementing business plans, commercialization strategies, and marketing for the cooperative.
  • Facilitate an experience-sharing program with Traperos de Emaús Navarra.