Breathe
By Content Opinion 51
The streets of Colonia Ferrocarril in Guadalajara rise up amidst a constant murmur, a symphony of voices and footsteps intertwined with the usual hustle and bustle. In a corner at the end of a little-traveled street, there is a safe space for people who want to take a break, a rest and an escape from the daily routine that is often wrapped up in the social problems that are commonly experienced. There, in that corner, there is an oasis of hope and decent work, where those who enter and leave find respect, good treatment and a way of life. It is a collection center where different types of waste are recovered, among them PET bottles, Guadalupe Burgos' business.
Guadalupe's story is interwoven with the shadows of her father's trade, who was a scrap metal dealer, a trade that allowed her to study and become a chemical engineer. It was in 2010 when, separated and with a daughter, she decided to face a world that, according to her own father, was reserved for men. Without looking back, Guadalupe began to collect waste, gathering what others left behind, the scraps of plastic and cardboard in which she saw the potential for a cleaner and more prosperous future. First waste from the market, then from pharmacies, whatever she could fit in her car.
Her story is not only a testimony of entrepreneurial success, but also a lesson in empathy and solidarity. She has generated links with other urban waste collectors who go through the streets with their little devils to recover different types of waste to take them to collection centers such as the one in Guadalupe. What seems to be just a job has also allowed her to weave a network of complicity among women who have struggled with money, loneliness and mistreatment. The environment of the women who collect is a reflection of human resilience, "we must not judge by appearances, I was also like that, all dirty," Guadalupe says.
What moves her? "Cleanliness, otherwise where would that plastic end up? It's my little grain of sand," Guadalupe says without a hint of doubt, as if she sees no other option and her mission is undoubtedly to leave this place a little better.
Guadalupe is a collection partner of PetStar, a 100% Mexican company dedicated to the collection and recycling of PET bottles with a history of more than 26 years, which is part of the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry (IMCC) and, through its PetStar Inclusive Collection Model (MAIP), promotes social mobility and the recognition of the rights of more than 30 thousand women and men dedicated to waste recovery, among them Guadalupe, by offering constant training, a banking program, among other aspects to promote inclusive collection and recycling. It also has the largest food-grade PET recycling plant in the world, located in Toluca, State of Mexico, which recycles more than 3.5 billion PET bottles a year, equivalent to filling the Azteca Stadium 2.5 times. The bottles that PetStar recovers from its copier-partners, including Guadalupe, will arrive at this plant, where they will form part of a circular economy cycle in which they will never become waste.
When you finish drinking that bottle of water, or that soft drink, think that this is only the beginning of its history and when you empty, crush, close and deposit it correctly, it will start its way again to become a new bottle.
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