Montevideo Recycles: BURGUES COOPERATIVE, Cecilia Vargas
Comprehensive Treatment of Urban Solid Waste
12.08.22. From Montevideo SOCINCE -News Agency for the Americas-
Burgess: Waste management service carried out by the Cooperative, promotion and environmental awareness to promote recycling and care for the environment.
As part of our commitment to the environment, we have classification workshops aimed at companies, public bodies, schools and high schools. As environmental workers, we provide you with the tools to position your company as a responsible entity. Trust “Cooperativa de Trabajo Burges” to develop a comprehensive management of responsible and sustainable waste. Our team prepares reports, providing you with all the necessary knowledge to develop your activity. In addition, we offer tailor-made in-company training, always adjusting to the needs of the client and the demands of the sector.
We work in the management of urban solid waste.
Our commitment to the environment is firm and all our procedures seek to reduce the environmental impact as much as possible through the collection, treatment and conditioning of urban solid waste. At Burgues Cooperative, we apply sustainable solutions that have a direct impact on social well-being and the protection of our environment. SOCINCE visited the Burgues Plant and spoke with its president Cecilia Vargas, who told us about her experiences and objectives that are set for the cooperative to continue growing.
Good afternoon, I am Cecilia Vargas, president of the Burgues cooperative. I will tell you a little about my story of how I got here to the Burgues cooperative. I have been a classifier for thirty-four years, I went out the streets to collect by horse cart, by bicycle cart with that I raised my five children; In 2019 they called me and I signed up here at the Burgues plant, they called me to do an interview to which I went to cover substitution, spent six months as a substitute before being principal here in Burgues. Two years later, in 2020, Burgues became a cooperative and the challenges were to be working under the command of an NGO -Non-Governmental Organization-, to being alone without knowing how to use a computer, without having a spreadsheet, anything; the challenge was very big, we had to go through many things like learning to use a computer which we didnt know, to put together a spreadsheet which we did not know either, I had to do training, both myself and the whole group of my colleagues, we had to do it to be able to get the cooperative off the ground. The challenge was very big, but we were able to move forward and we still have many challenges to achieve.
The biggest difficulties that the cooperatives and the classifiers have are the institutions, we do not really have the support that we should have from them, both in the financial issue and in many other issues, we do not feel the support, there are times when we are alone, we feel alone, we find ourselves alone fighting against all the obstacles because we do not really have the support that we should from them.
The plans we have for the future is to become independent in order to generate more sources of employment. To do that, we mainly need help from the state and the institutions, so we generate more sources of employment for our colleagues. It is not only financial aid, but the cooperatives also need help at the management. As well as the cooperatives need to say or else come and tell us “This land is yours” so we know this land belongs to us. So if in a future they leave or those who are with us leave, we know that we have something, a little piece of land to continue working, but we also must have something endorsed, a piece of paper that says …this little piece of land belongs to Burgues Cooperative…, In case we retire tomorrow or whoever retires, the Burgues Cooperative is left with that little bit of land to do whatever they can in projects so they can continue achieving.
SOCINCE -News Agency for the Americas-
