Overview

Rio de Janeiro's Caju Ecopark is based on the concept of a circular economy for the food system and organic waste. Food waste is collected from municipal schools and supermarkets and sorted to ensure its best use. Food collected from supermarkets in the south of the city still good for consumption is redistributed via the on-site food bank. The remainder is transformed into biogas and organic compost through the Ecopark’s Biomethanisation Unit, the first of its kind to be installed in Latin America in 2020. The compost is used in urban gardens and for soil restoration across the city’s parks.  

Caju Ecopark has the capacity to process 3,000 tonnes of organic waste annually. Diverting this amount of organic waste from landfills, mitigates 3.4 MtCO₂e, the equivalent of taking 750,000 cars in the United States off the road, each year by avoiding fugitive methane emissions from landfill, and reducing waste transfer by fossil fuels trucks.

For more information contact: Tia Schwab at tschwab@c40.org