Susana Lemus

Mexican environmental engineer transforming recycling in informal settlements through community cooperatives

Susana Lemus is a visionary environmental engineer whose work has redefined waste management in marginalized communities. As founder of EcoPetrolatina, she created Latin America's first formal recycling cooperatives in Mexico City's informal settlements. Her model combines social enterprise with environmental stewardship, providing dignified work for 800+ waste pickers while diverting 2,500 tons of waste monthly from landfills.

Lemus developed the CircularMX platform connecting informal recyclers with formal businesses through blockchain-based systems that track waste streams and ensure fair payment. This innovation increased recyclers' incomes by 60% while reducing municipal waste costs by 40%. Her work inspired similar models in São Paulo and Buenos Aires.

Her research on microplastic pollution in urban waterways led to Mexico's first municipal ban on single-use plastics in 2019. Lemus' TEDx talk "How to Turn Waste into Wealth" has become a blueprint for circular economy initiatives globally. She advises the Inter-American Development Bank on urban sustainability and co-authored the UN-Habitat report "Informal Settlements and the Circular Economy".