Salvador, the capital of Bahia and one of Brazil’s most historic port cities, is home to nearly 3 million residents across a sprawling coastal landscape. Its rich Afro-Brazilian culture, economic vitality, and oceanfront setting make it a national treasure—but also expose it to climate risks, environmental degradation, and persistent waste management challenges.
With high levels of informal waste collection and limited formal recycling infrastructure, Salvador faces mounting plastic pollution that impacts both people and ecosystems. Landfilling remains widespread, and vulnerable communities bear the brunt of its environmental and social consequences.
Through the Urban Ocean program, Salvador is integrating waste picker cooperatives into a more equitable and efficient circular system. The city is scaling inclusive recycling models, building cooperative capacity, and demonstrating how climate-smart waste solutions can deliver lasting social and environmental impact.
Project Statement
Empowering Waste Pickers and Cooperatives to Increase Recycling in Salvador tackles the city’s challenges by integrating informal waste workers into the formal economy, enhancing recycling infrastructure, and promoting inclusive circular practices that reduce plastic leakage and strengthen community resilience.
The Project Statement outlines Salvador’s commitment to improving working conditions, boosting recycling rates, and supporting a just transition to a circular economy—where environmental sustainability and social equity go hand in hand.
Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) Report
Between March and May 2023, the Circularity Informatics Lab at the University of Georgia conducted the CAP in Salvador, in collaboration with local waste picker cooperatives and municipal authorities. The assessment identified key sources of plastic leakage and community-level opportunities for circular interventions.
The CAP provides a standardized method to gather data on plastic flows at the community level, enabling better policy design and more impactful waste solutions.
City Waste Management Profile
Salvador’s profile highlights persistent challenges such as limited formal recycling infrastructure, a high reliance on landfilling, and the social vulnerabilities of informal waste workers. However, the city’s robust cooperative movement and increasing commitment to circularity present a compelling path forward.
The City Waste Management Profile evaluates Salvador’s waste system, identifying gaps and resilience opportunities to reduce plastic pollution, strengthen livelihoods, and advance environmental justice.
Urban Ocean is a capacity-building and accelerator program to end ocean plastic pollution and build more resilient communities in cities. Urban Ocean champions circular economy principles, builds awareness of ocean plastic, assesses waste management systems and supports cities to develop projects that address the interrelated challenges of ocean plastics and resilience. Since 2020, the program has been implemented in cities across Asia and Latin America. The program is jointly implemented by Resilient Cities Network, Ocean Conservancy and The Circulate Initiative.