Abstract

Grupo Vanguardia, a Honduran plastics company, launched an innovative recycling initiative that has emerged as a core business strategy and foundation for marketplace success. This inclusive business model was built to reflect the economic realities of Honduras, a developing country with a struggling economy. By harnessing existing waste streams and a large base of previously informal workers, Grupo Vanguardia has delivered economic, environmental, and social gains in northeastern Honduras. The company has also gained higher margins by using recycled plastic, reducing waste, and creating jobs for lowincome Hondurans. The Grupo Vanguardia case study demonstrates how sustainability can create opportunities for businesses in countries where the government is unable to provide essential services like waste management.

Introduction

Grupo Vanguardia, a Honduran plastics maker, has become a corporate sustainability pioneer. The company has developed a set of social and environmental practices that have given it a sustainabilitydriven competitive advantage. Vanguardia's success is especially notable because the plastics industry has long faced criticism for environmental damage and low recycling rates. The company's unique business model emerged from its engagement with local communities and commitment to helping Honduran society. Founder Eduardo Moya developed this guiding vision in partnership with the low-income informal workers who collect and recycle waste in northeastern Honduras. That collaboration, Moya learned, worked well. Indeed, after Grupo Vanguardia provided training and financial support, many of the individuals in the informal trash collecting sector were able to start formal businesses. The collectors’ incomes increased, the company's bottom line improved, and discarded plastic was salvaged for successful reuse.

Grupo Vanguardia's Best Practice

Grupo Vanguardia has succeeded because it has developed a sustainable business model that reflects the realities of the Honduran economy. Honduras ranks among the poorest countries in Latin America, and informal work makes up a large share of the economy. Since its founding in 1992, Vanguardia has engaged with Hondurans to develop a new approach to plastic production. First, the company has taken advantage of the opportunity to use lower-cost recycled plastic as the feedstock for its manufacturing process, rather than relying on more expensive imported virgin plastic.