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CAFOD

Earth Day 2024: Clever solutions to clear plastic waste in Bolivia

22 April 2024

When visiting Lake Titicaca in the Andes mountains, you’d expect to see clear blue water and feel a sense of peace.

But despite its incredible height, the Bolivian lake still hasn’t escaped the devasting impact of the climate crisis.

South America -Bolivia - plastic waste in the Katari River basin

A sea of plastic waste flowing towards the Katari river basin in Bolivia

Waves of plastic, contaminated water and pollution from the cities flow into this unique lake, affecting the Indigenous population and their environment.

This Earth Day, we are celebrating a community near Lake Titicaca, by the Katari river, who have come together to clear the tons of waste that washed up on their doorstep with the help from our local partner, Instituto de Investigación y Acción para el Desarrollo Integral (IIADI), who stand with them.

One of the big issues that some of the most marginalised communities in Bolivia face is around water, either the lack of water because of the climate crisis or because of water contamination

Nikki Evans, CAFOD's Country Representative for Bolivia, Peru and Colombia

The Katari river is one of the most densely populated river basins in Bolivia. Almost 10 per cent of the country’s population (1 million people!) live here, as it includes the major cities El Alto and Viacha. The pollution from these cities flows into Lake Titicaca ­­– an ancestral land where Indigenous communities, for centuries, have lived in harmony with the environment.

A sea of waste five kilometres in size

“Now, a sea of plastic bottles, bin bags and waste covers over five kilometres, and it’s constantly growing,” explains Carlos Revilla, one of the amazing people CAFOD works with in the region. “It’s producing a rancid smell that reduces the quality of life of the communities here.”

The environmental issue manifests itself as an important social issue. It is not only the preservation of an emblematic lake or a tourist area, but rather it is fundamentally a process that is already generating environmental migration and the loss of livelihoods.

Carlos Revilla, IIADI's Director