Buenos Aires evolves in its waste management: an Argentine startup is preparing to launch a recycling app that will connect neighbors with waste pickers to collect their recyclable waste at home.
It is a system similar to the Uber travel app: the difference is that on the other side there is no car, but a waste picker who could triple their income thanks to this app.
The proposal comes from Reaquila, an Argentine startup that promises to change the rules of the game in a country where 50,000 tons of garbage are buried per day.
Their bet: digitize recycling, formalize informal work, and provide real traceability to every bottle, cardboard, or container recovered.
Reaquila: how the digital recycling app works
The proposal is simple but disruptive. Users must first publish their recyclable materials on the platform: plastic, glass, cardboard, or metal.
In a few minutes, the publisher should receive confirmation in the recycling app that an urban collector will pick them up at their doorstep.
This was explained by Martín Parra, CEO of Reaquila, in dialogue with iProfesional: “We have an ‘uberization’ platform that allows users to request the collection of their containers in a manner similar to delivery services like Rappi or PedidosYa.”
This month the pilot starts in Buenos Aires with 150 waste pickers. Currently, the free application is available for neighbors, businesses, and companies.
In addition, the entire process is recorded in the recycling app, from the pickup to the sale of the material.
The service offers three modalities:
- basic subscription with two monthly collections;
- family subscription with four visits;
- on-demand option for immediate pickups
Currently, the cost is $2,000 per collection.
The other side: financial inclusion for waste pickers
In addition to facilitating recycling, the platform is key for the financial inclusion of waste pickers, a marginalized group with an essential role.
The app also integrates its own digital wallet, with an associated Mastercard.
Thus, the collectors receive almost the entire payment for each service electronically.
“In this way, we formalize and provide financial inclusion to a historically invisible sector,” Parra told iProfesional.
According to the company’s estimates, a collector who currently earns about $400,000 monthly could triple their income thanks to this recycling app.
“Our idea is for the waste picker to earn more, not to depend on the price of the material or subsidies, and for the first time to have access to a remunerated account, credit, and traceability of their work,” emphasized the CEO.
The income comes from three sources:
- payment for collection logistics;
- direct sale of the material;
- interest generated in the wallet.
These companies use the system to measure their environmental impact and comply with circular economy standards.
Traceability for companies and circular economy
Reaquila solves a critical problem of the waste management system in Argentina: the lack of traceability.
Today, most of the materials that neighbors separate end up buried.
“The reality is that what is left in the green containers, for the most part, gets buried. That’s why it’s so important for a collector to pick it up directly, and since they need to sell it to live, that guarantees that the material is actually recycled,” Parra emphasized to iProfesional.
The startup also works with brands like Coca-Cola, CCU, Tetra Pak, Chango Más, Alvear Supermercados, and Sancor Seguros.
“For companies, it is essential to validate how much they actually recover. Until now, they managed with sworn statements and consultancies, without technology. We offer end-to-end traceability, based on data and blockchain,” Parra explained.
Reaquila: the recycling app from Bahía Blanca to the world
The story of Reaquila began in 2020 in Bahía Blanca with an investment of $10,000. Today, the company is more than just a recycling app.
The founders —Martín Parra, Facundo Roque, Maximiliano Fuchs, and Maximiliano Rodríguez— set up a clean point where neighbors exchanged waste for discounts.
In 2022 they received $53,000 from Grupo Sancor Seguros to scale their software.
Since then, they have launched their benefits platform, home collection, a marketplace for recycled materials, and the uberization app.
The company directly employs ten people and collaborates with more than 150 cooperatives, representing about 5,000 people throughout the chain.
Currently, it recovers 7,200 tons of materials per year.
The business model relies on subscription commissions, fintech services from the wallet, and the sale of traceability data to companies.
Reaquila projects to bill more than 1.5 million dollars in 2025 and has operations in Chile, Uruguay, and Spain.
“We want to digitize collection throughout Latin America and create a global market for recycled materials. From Argentina, it should be possible to trace a recovered container to Mexico or Spain,” Parra concluded.
In Argentina, more than 50,000 tons of waste are generated daily and almost all end up buried.
In response, Reaquila proposes to revolutionize the broken system with technology, inclusion, and circular economy.
