in a shock development...

..recycling bins appear on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Now don't get too excited - a quick inspection this morning suggests that the good citizens of Bs As have not yet caught onto the concept of separating rubbish.
Bin 1 - orange lid and (somewhat faded) instructions to place glass, plastic, cardboard etc. = any kind of rubbish.
Bin 2 - black lid and no instructions = any kind of rubbish.

Still, it's a step. Now we just need a major cultural shift in peoples' attitudes - which is going to take time and effort. Will Bs As government and residents be up to it?

And will the new bins make things easier for the cartoneros? Or is this the latest attempt to cut them out of the equation?

A little searching on the Bs As government website later, and via this report in Clarin, it would seem that the bins are linked to the opening of six new recycling centres across the city. This is part of a series of laws working towards 'zero rubbish.' There's some education in schools, but little with the adult population.

Interestingly, a further aim of the new recycling centres according to Clarin, is to help the 6000 cartoneros stop working on the streets and move to a more secure and hygienic mode of operating. Only 1000 of the cartoneros are members of cooperatives; the majority work independently and are at the mercy of the large recycling firms.

The article ends by commenting:

The majority of residents are not, and do not wish to, separate their rubbish.

So how are they going to be persuaded?