Environmental Responsibility Bulletin No. 3 Environmental Management Committee • November 2021
The circular economy A. What is the circular economy? It seems it has become fashionable to talk about the circular economy: it is discussed
in fields such as academia, politics, economics and social affairs, and even in nonspecialized media. In the academic context, one example of its increasingly frequent appearance in different agendas is in the work of Kirchherr, Reike and Hekkert (2017), which notes that more than 100 articles were published on the topic in 2016, compared to only around 30 in 2014.
More recently, in the regional political sphere, Chile presented a proposed road map
for its circular economy entitled Propuesta: hoja de ruta nacional a la economía circular para un Chile sin basura 2020–2040, Colombia launched a national strategy for its circular economy entitled Estrategia nacional de economía circular.1 Cierre de ciclos de materiales, innovación tecnológica, colaboración y nuevos modelos de negocio,2 Ecuador published a white paper on its circular economy,3 and Peru adopted a road map for a circular economy in the country’s industrial sector.4 The European Union also
Contents A. What is the circular economy?.......................... 1 B. The circular design process: define, make, release and understand..................................... 4 C. Managing and (not) generating waste: turning waste into resources............................ 6
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D. Road maps and the future of the circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean..................................................... 10 E. Renovation of the North Building: application of the circular economy at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago................................ 11 Bibliography............................................................. 12
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Formulation of a road map is one of the commitments made by the State of Chile to promote the circular economy. The document states that the road map seeks to establish a shared path towards a circular economy over the next 20 years, whilst acknowledging that it is vital to establish consensus and interlink the various actors in the public sector, private sector, civil society and academia, by pursuing actions that promote the circular economy at all levels, with a systemic strategy that contributes to structuring the efforts already underway and finds synergies to move forward with the required strength (Government of Chile, 2020a). Colombia was the first country in the region to adopt a circular economy strategy, led by its Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development. As stated in the document, the aim of the strategy is to move towards a new economic development model that includes continuous optimization of resources, closing of material, water and energy cycles, creation of new business models, promotion of industrial symbiosis and consolidation of sustainable cities, with the goal, among others, of optimizing efficiency in the production and consumption of materials, and reducing the water and carbon footprint (Government of Colombia, 2019). Ecuador’s Libro blanco de economía circular white paper is one of the milestones of the road map towards Ecuador’s national circular economy strategy, development and implementation of which has been overseen by the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries. The document indicates that the strategy is a key tool for formulating public and territorial policies aimed at new economic models that guarantee environmental, economic and social quality and sustainability (Government of Ecuador, 2021). The initiative was developed by the Ministry of Production (Produce) and the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) to boost economic growth and inclusive and sustainable industrial development. It was adopted by means of Supreme Decree No. 003–2020-Produce in March 2020 and contains the measures to be taken by the State to encourage and promote the transition from a linear economic model to a circular one in the manufacturing and industrial fish processing industries (Government of Peru, 2020).
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adopted the Circular Economy Action Plan: For a cleaner and more competitive Europe in March 2020.5 These planning efforts entail measures and guidelines to address various concerns about pressure on the environment and natural resources. That pressure is directly related to the current forms of production and consumption, which must be changed for development to be sustainable. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a leading institution in the circular economy, defines this concept
as “an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. … It replaces the ‘end-of-life’ concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, which impair reuse, and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems, and, within this, business models”. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013).6 According to the Foundation, such a system is based on three simple principles:
(i) Eliminate waste and pollution by design In this system, “waste does not exist—products are designed and optimised for a cycle of disassembly and reuse. These tight component and product cycles define the circular economy and set it apart from disposal and even recycling where large amounts of embedded energy and labour are lost.” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7). The idea is that waste and pollution are not accidental, but arise because of decisions made at the design stage, which determine around 80% of the environmental impact a product will have (including greenhouse gases, hazardous substances, air, land and water pollution and structural waste, such as the effects of traffic congestion). Waste and pollution should be seen as design flaws, and new materials and technologies should be employed from this early stage to prevent these failures.
(ii) Maintain products and materials in use “Circularity introduces a strict differentiation between consumable and durable components of a product. …consumables … are largely made of biological ingredients or ‘nutrients’ that are at least non-toxic and possibly even beneficial and can be safely returned to the biosphere—directly or in a cascade of consecutive uses” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7). After one or more cycles in the system, they eventually biodegrade and return the incorporated nutrients to the environment. “Durables such as engines or computers, on the other hand, are made of technical nutrients unsuitable for the biosphere, like metals and most plastics” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7) and synthetic chemicals. These are designed from the start for reuse, repair, remanufacturing or ultimately recycling; they remain in continuous cycles in the system so that their value can be recaptured in each cycle.
(iii) Regenerate natural systems “The energy required to fuel this cycle should be renewable by nature, … to decrease resource dependence and increase system resilience”. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7). In nature there is no concept of waste, and everything serves as food for other things. In the case of technical components or materials, “the circular economy largely replaces the concept of a consumer with that of a user. This calls for a new contract between businesses and their customers based on product performance.” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7). Unlike in the linear “buy-and-consume” economy, or more broadly the “extract, produce, use and throw away” economy (when also including components or consumable materials), in the circular economy durable products are leased or rented (with or without purchase options), or shared wherever possible. If they are sold, there are incentives or agreements in place to ensure the return and thereafter the reuse of the product or its components and materials at the end of its period of primary use. These principles all drive four clear-cut sources of value creation that offer arbitrage opportunities in comparison with linear product design and materials usage (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 30):7 5 6
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The Circular Economy Action Plan: For a cleaner and more competitive Europe is one of the main components of the European Green Deal, the European Union’s new agenda to achieve sustainable growth and climate neutrality by 2050 (European Union, 2020). There is no single definition of circular economy, so this concept can mean different things to different people. This is reflected, for example, in Kirchherr, Reike and Hekkert (2017) and Korhonen and others (2018). The former brings together 114 definitions of circular economy classified into 17 dimensions; while it is shown that many definitions can be conceptually grouped, the conceptualizations remain very diverse. The results suggest that the circular economy is most frequently described as a combination of reducing, reusing and recycling, although the fact that it requires systemic change is often not highlighted. The latter study states that although the circular economy dates back to the beginning of industrialization and the nineteenth century, academic research on the subject is only recent. As a result, research remains fragmented and primarily focused on applied research. The notion of the circular economy is based on a fragmented collection of ideas derived from a variety of scientific disciplines and semi-scientific concepts. In this regard, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation also highlights that the circular economy originates from various schools of thought and cannot be traced back to a single date or author (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013). With regard to the opportunities for value creation in the circular economy compared to the linear economy, a key feature of the circular economy is that prices are assumed to act as messages and therefore must reflect all costs to be effective. The full costs of negative externalities are revealed and taken into account, and damaging subsidies are eliminated. A lack of transparency about externalities acts as a barrier to the transition to a circular economy (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013).
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The power of the inner circle. This refers to minimizing comparative material usage vis-à-vis the linear production system. The tighter the circle, the more valuable the strategy. Repairing and maintaining a product — for example, a car — leads to it retaining most of its value. If this is no longer possible, the individual components can be reused or remanufactured. This preserves more value than simply recycling the materials. Inner circles preserve more of a product’s integrity, complexity, and embedded labour and energy (as well as capital and related externalities, such as greenhouse gas emissions or water use).
The power of circling longer. This refers to maximizing the number of consecutive cycles (be it reuse, remanufacturing, recycling or extending useful life) and/or the time in each cycle. Each longer cycle avoids the use of materials, energy and labour to create a new product or component. However, for energy-intensive products, the optimal lifetime must take into account improvements in energy performance over time.
The power of cascaded use. This refers to “diversifying reuse across the value chain, as when cotton clothing is reused first as second-hand apparel, then crosses to the furniture industry as fibre-fill in upholstery, and the fibre-fill is later reused in stone wool insulation for construction — in each case substituting for an inflow of virgin materials into the economy — before the cotton fibres are safely returned to the biosphere” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7).
The power of pure circles. This refers to “the fact that uncontaminated material streams increase collection and redistribution efficiency while maintaining quality, particularly of technical materials, which, in turn, extends product longevity and thus increases material productivity” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013, p. 7).
The following system diagram (see Diagram 1) from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation attempts to capture the essence of the circular economy: the flows of materials, nutrients, components and products. It also adds economic-financial value, through savings in embedded capital, energy and labour, and natural capital, by reducing or avoiding their depletion and restoring them in biological cycles. It is based on several schools of thought, but is perhaps most influenced by the two material cycles of the approach known as “cradle-to-cradle”.8 Diagram 1 The circular economy system according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, February 2019 [online] www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org. 8
The main schools of thought related to the circular economy that have influenced the work of the Foundation are: Walter Stahel’s functional service economy (performance economy); the “cradle-to-cradle” design philosophy of William McDonough and Michael Braungart; biomimicry, as structured by Janine Benyus; the industrial ecology of Reid Lifset and Thomas Graedel; the natural capitalism of Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken; and the blue economy case study approach described by Gunter Pauli (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013).
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According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation,9 a circular economy guided by the principles presented above could create enormous economic and environmental opportunities. It could foster economic growth, through a combination of higher revenues from emerging activities in the circular economy and lower production costs owing to increased productivity of materials; substantial net savings in material costs; employment opportunities through increased spending driven by lower prices, the high labour intensity of high-quality recycling activities and higher-skilled jobs in remanufacturing; and innovation through the stimulus of replacing one-way products with “circular by design” products and the creation of reverse logistics networks and other systems that support the circular economy, leading to higher rates of technological development and better materials, labour skills and energy efficiency. This would gradually decouple economic growth from virgin materials, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raw material consumption, improve the conservation and productivity of land and soil health, and mitigate other externalities (such as those related to land use, noise, air and water pollution, emission of toxic substances and climate change).
B. The circular design process: define, make, release and understand The focus of design has been changing in recent times. It has been proven that design is a process that allows for planning of materials, components, products, systems and business models to avoid generating waste in the ecosystem (Torres, 2017), which is one of the most important aims of the circular economy, if not the main one. Investing time and energy in ensuring that a material, component, product, process or business model is well-designed enables cost and time savings when managing the future waste from the designed product; design is therefore the cornerstone of a circular economy. Many companies are now attempting to develop circular design competencies to facilitate reuse, recycling and multi-cycle product use. The design of circular products requires advanced skills, information and working methods. The circular design process (see diagram 2) generally includes different sequential repeated stages, such as selection of materials and application of criteria for manufacturing to take into account the subsequent use of by-products and waste.10 Diagram 2 The circular design process
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “The Circular Design Guide” [online] https://www.circulardesignguide.com/.
The Circular Design Guide, developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with IDEO, provides information on circular innovation methods and includes interviews with designers, creative exercises, case studies and links to technical tools.
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As the Foundation indicates (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015), the analysis of the opportunities and impacts of a circular economy is based on figures and assumptions from the European Union, but as the challenges are universal, the conclusions may be applicable to other regions. See [online] https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/what-is-the-circular-economy.
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1. Ecodesign Ecodesign entails the inclusion of preventive measures during development and planning of a product or service to reduce its environmental impact throughout its life cycle (production, use and end of life) and to facilitate its reuse or recycling once this cycle has ended. The environmental factor is thus incorporated into the product as added value, with competitive and marketing advantages, without compromising the price, features or quality of the product. This favours the transition to a circular economic model, introducing practical implementation of circularity that improves the environmental and functional performance of products and services, based on identification of critical environmental points. This analysis enables a strategy to be formulated that best addresses these critical points, such as reusing, remanufacturing, changing materials, dematerialization, design for recycling or another circular innovation strategy.
2. Case studies (a) Green glass (Chile)11
Source: www.greenglass.cl.
Green Glass is a company that reuses glass bottles by turning them into glasses with original designs. Its main aim is to recycle 100% of the bottles, extending their useful life, to combat the problem of household waste and to support recyclers. Collection is its main circular engine; most Green Glass bottles are recovered by individual street recyclers who sell them to recycling centres. They are then washed to remove dust, labels and residues. The packaging of the glasses and other products is ecofriendly, plastic-free and compostable. (b) Plástica (Chile) Plastica is a Chilean company that designs colourful, distinctive jewellery that reuses unused plastic, created with its own original techniques. It is a certified B Corps12, run by women, which produces plastic earrings and jewellery handmade by local women, with recycled silver fittings. The company is committed to durability, which is why they offer a free lifetime warranty on products, undoubtedly helping to extend their life cycle. They are available on platforms such as Amazon and are distributed throughout Latin America and the United States. All the plastic they reuse is obtained from donations received at their workshop. They are lowdensity plastics, from packaging such as that for nappies, sanitary towels, toilet paper, lettuce, clothes or household appliances, or even notebook dust jackets.
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See [online, available in Spanish only] https://www.greenglass.cl/pages/la-historia-real-de-green-glass. See [online] https://www.sistemab.org/en/b-certification/
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Source: www.plastica.com.
(c) Bohío Playa (Colombia) Bohío Playa is a Colombian company that manufactures summer clothing. This includes swimming trunks created with water-repellent nautical fabric made from recycled bottles. Each pair of trunks uses five recycled plastic bottles. The company has a positive impact in several areas: providing fair employment conditions, reducing environmental impact, producing handmade high-end garments and unique designs, and giving plastic a new life with a highly durable product.
Source: https://www.bohioplaya.com/
(d) Insecta Shoes (Brazil) This Brazilian company creates colourful and original shoes and accessories from recycled clothing fabric. By recycling clothes, they avoid wasteful use, extend the life of the fabrics and create original and unique designs. In addition, to close the life cycle of their products, when they are no longer being used, customers can return them by post free of charge. The returned clothes are recycled, their materials are reused, and the customer receives a discount for another purchase in the store, which acts as an incentive.
Source: https://insectashoes.com/.
C. Managing and (not) generating waste: turning waste into resources The circular economy is often linked to the three, five, six, seven or even nine (or more) Rs model. All these Rs are tools that can contribute to development of the circular economy if they are properly understood and applied. The most relevant strategies regarding the waste generation and management phase are listed below (including some that do not start with R).
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While recycling is often the first R that comes to mind when considering the circular economy, in truth, in a genuinely circular economy there should be no waste to recycle, as current products should be used as raw materials for future products. Therefore, before resorting to recycling, it would be better to consider how not to generate waste. Ecodesign was discussed in the previous section, but this section will emphasize the importance of stopping to reflect on our role as consumers. While most waste and wasteful use of energy come before products reach consumers —between resource extraction and manufacturing (Webster, 2012)— our contribution is also important. We must learn to differentiate between what is really needed to cover basic needs and those products or services that we can easily do without. When consumers rethink their habits, they also begin to apply other strategies, such as reducing and avoiding; for instance, by not buying non-essential products —such as clothes, even if they are cheap— planning to avoid food waste, or implementing strategies to save energy or avoiding over-packaging by buying in bulk or using cloth bags, reusable containers or returnable packaging. In this respect, one interesting example is Circular Shop, the first Chilean supermarket with a “zero waste” commitment, which sells many of its products in returnable packaging —which customers return when they make their next purchase— and recycles those that cannot be reused. It is also vital to be informed: bioplastics have become fashionable lately. However, although such plastics are from renewable sources —made from sugars, starches or vegetable oils— they do not always contribute to sustainability. Their use can have some very harmful consequences, such as intensive agriculture to produce the source plants. Although some of these materials may be biodegradable or compostable, this is only possible in industrial composting plants, as they require very specific conditions not offered by landfills (Villén, 2019). Once a product has been manufactured, the aim must be to maintain its usefulness and value in the economic cycle for as long as possible. To achieve this, the following strategies are crucial, as they preserve the value of a product without degrading it. Repairing and maintaining products extends their useful life, thus avoiding the production of new products and, consequently, more waste (Circular Economy Toolkit, n/d). After-sales technical service can be a competitive advantage for companies in sectors such as electronics and information technology. For example, some clothing companies, such as Patagonia (through its WornWear programme), offer to repair damaged garments and return them to the customer. The company Ikea offers its customers parts to repair purchased furniture if it is damaged. Reusing products and redistributing them to new users in their original form or with some change helps to avoid manufacturing of new products and provides wider access to resources. Actions related to this strategy include sale or donation of goods that are no longer needed, for example through digital platforms. The well-known construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has a website for trading in used excavating equipment, whether it is made by Caterpillar or other manufacturers. The reuse of grey water or wastewater for other purposes, such as filling toilet cisterns or irrigation, is another good example of this strategy. One example of reuse of materials that has received some criticism is the manufacturing of so-called “ecobricks” (Universidad Diego Portales, 2021): bottles filled with all kinds of plastics, used to build houses. Although a new life is being given to the constituent plastics, when making ecobricks no distinction is made between recyclable and non-recyclable materials, so those that could be reintegrated into the production cycle are not, and the problem of what to do with these plastics is merely postponed. Another strategy that is related to these last two is sharing. A major shift in mindset that would contribute to a truly circular economy is prioritizing the use and provision of services over the possession of specific items. Because technological products are not consumed in the same way as food, to give just one example, importance could be attached to accessing them when needed, rather than to possessing them. Bundles, a company from the Netherlands, gives its users access to high efficiency and quality washing machines for a monthly fee based on the amount of washing they do. When the contract ends, the machine is returned to the company, which can either rent it out again or recover its components to manufacture new washing machines.
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Some companies pursue industrial symbiosis, recovering waste and by-products that other companies cannot reintegrate into their processes to transform them into their raw material (European Commission, 2014). In Switzerland, for example, a pomegranate processing company has partnered with a cosmetics brand that uses pomegranate seeds as a raw material for its products. Remanufacturing and reconditioning are processes by which a used product’s value or performance is restored (Apiñaniz, 2016). Remanufactured products —such as vehicle steering systems, printers or photographic equipment— are those that are recovered, disassembled and repaired, and their components replaced if necessary, so they can be sold with the same conditions and warranties as new products. This is not the case for refurbished or reconditioned products, which are not usually dismantled and whose transformation is sometimes of a rather aesthetic nature (renovation of buildings is an example). Last is the most popular strategy, recycling, which is to say collecting used and discarded products and putting them back into the system, reducing them to raw materials, which are used to create new products. As previously mentioned, in a circular model, food and other biological materials can be safely reintegrated back into nature and returned to the system through the processes of composting and anaerobic digestion (such as composting of organic household waste into natural fertilizer, a process discussed in the previous bulletin). However, this is not the case for technological products, components or materials. Those that it has not been possible to recover or restore through reuse, repair or remanufacturing strategies must be recycled. In fact, recycling is an ineffective strategy because it wastes the work and energy that went into creating the product; the expense of creating a new product from zero, even from recycled materials, is high, and some of the original material is always lost, meaning that the process does not preserve as much value as other strategies such as reuse or remanufacturing, as well as consuming more energy (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). What is most important, as noted above, is attempting to avoid creating the waste in the first place by properly designing materials, components, products, systems and business models (Torres, 2017). However, once the waste has been created, it is crucial to know how to dispose of it correctly. Responsible waste management, focused on harnessing and maximizing resources and minimizing and reusing waste, is essential. Today, many companies are pursuing innovative recycling projects, but as consumers we can also contribute by sorting household waste and taking it to local recycling centres, where each material is put in a specific container. If there is no municipal collection service for recycling waste in a neighbourhood or city, in some locations there are specialist recycling companies that will collect waste from homes on a one-off or regular basis. However, even if consumers’ recycling habits are impeccable, it is important to be aware that much waste is not recycled. But why? Materials such as flexible polypropylene, which is used in noodle or rice packaging, are recyclable, but rarely recycled. This plastic is very light, so recycling it does not offset the costs of transport and sale, which are calculated in tons. In addition, there are few ways it can be used in other products. Therefore, whether a material is recycled or not will depend on the installed capacity and technology for recycling, profitability, and demand (Todos Reciclamos, 2020).
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Diagram 3 Types of plastic Bottles for beverages, mineral water, cooking oil
Milk bottles, packaging for cleaning products, detergents, shampoo, shower gel, supermarket bags
Pipes and tubing, electrical cables, toys
Rubbish bags, dry-cleaning bags, clingfilm
Bottle caps, food packaging (for example margarine), plastic tubs for storing food, straws
Yoghurt pots, trays for meat or fish, fast food packaging, single-use cups
Baby bottles, CDs, DVDs, automobile parts]
Source: En Estado Crudo, “Tipos de plásticos” [online, available in Spanish only] https://www.enestadocrudo.com/tipos-plastico/. Note: the type of plastic used in each product varies according to the manufacturer
For example, according to data from Todos Reciclamos (2020), the least recycled plastics in Chile today are flexible polypropylene (number 5), used in packages for perishables, snacks and frozen foods, and polystyrene (number 6), found in food trays, dessert and yogurt containers, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging. The plastics that are not recycled at all are polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (number 3), used in water and sewage pipes, and those in the “other plastics” category (number 7), which are found in packaging and articles made from a mix of resins and materials that are exceedingly difficult to separate and are therefore not accepted at recycling centres or recycled at recovery plants. If consumers know what happens to the products they buy once they are no longer useful, then they can start reducing the impact of consumption in terms of waste by making better choices and applying the strategies outlined in this section. More interesting examples of waste avoidance strategies can be found on the following sites:
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, “Closing the loop - the circular economy, what it means and what it can do for you”, 2018 [online] https://www.pwc.com/hu/en/kiadvanyok/assets/pdf/Closing-the-loop-the-circular-economy.pdf.
Q. Gutierrez Villach, “Ejemplos de economía circular”, Sostenible o Sustentable, 7 June 2021 [online, available in Spanish only] https://sostenibleosustentable.com/economia-verde/ejemplos-economia-circular/.
Circular Economy Toolkit [online] http://18.135.225.126/circulareconomytoolkit.org/.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, “Strategies and examples”, Circular Economy Practitioner Guide [online] https://www.ceguide.org/Strategies-and-examples.
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D. Road maps and the future of the circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean A road map is a strategic plan that sets out a long-term vision and the key measures that need to be implemented to achieve it. They are high-level documents that serve as communication tools and help structure thinking around shared challenges and plans to address them. The circular economy model is already being applied in many parts of the world. Several international organizations, countries and cities have developed circular economy road maps, plans or strategies and, as mentioned in the first section of this document, some of them have emerged in Latin America and the Caribbean, in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In addition, a number of national communities, businesses and organizations —including many in Chile (Rubik, 2018)— are driving significant changes through a circular approach. The transition to the circular economy model is being driven by several trends and challenges, including:
• the threats posed by climate change and ecosystem degradation • scarcity of raw materials and natural resources • development of new technologies that enhance circular solutions • increasingly stringent regulations concerning waste, recycling, product design and plastics • international commitments, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals • increasingly informed and empowered citizens
1. What is happening in Chile? Firstly, more and more waste is being generated,13 most of which ends up in landfills. Secondly, current landfills have only 12 years of useful life left, on average (SUBDERE, 2017). If this pattern does not change, Chile will need to build and start operating several new landfills in the coming years. This is clearly not a sustainable solution, given the serious socioenvironmental effects that such facilities have on the surrounding areas, causing them to be rejected by local communities. As a result, development and construction usually takes more than ten years. As explained in Chile’s proposed road map for its circular economy, the road map is a long-term commitment and a means of achieving a paradigm shift from the linear economy towards a circular economy model over the next 20 years. This would represent a significant transition, requiring consensus and interaction among the different stakeholders in civil society and in the public, private and academic sectors (Government of Chile, 2020a). Road maps are tools that help identify what needs improving and what needs to be done to achieve that. Work is being performed in participatory manner with the different unions and the private sector because they are the ones who are going to drive the transition to the circular economy.14 The aim is not to establish guidelines for specific sectors, but rather to pursue actions that promote the circular economy at all levels, with a systemic strategy that contributes to structuring the efforts already underway and finds synergies to move forward with the required impetus. However, more specific circular economy initiatives are already underway in Chile. These include Law 20920, which establishes a framework for waste management, extended producer responsibility and actions to promote recycling, the National Organic Waste Strategy 2020–2040 (Ministry of the Environment, 2020), the Road Map for Construction and Demolition Waste: The Circular Economy in Construction 2035 (Government of Chile, 2020b), the strong impetus given to the issue by the Production Development Corporation (CORFO) and the Sustainability and Climate Change Agency, and the hundreds of ventures and innovations that exist throughout the country.
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The report on solid waste management entitled Primer Reporte del Manejo de Residuos Sólidos en Chile (CONAMA, 2010) estimates that 6.5 million tons of municipal waste was generated in 2009, equivalent to 1.05 kg per person per day, while in 2018 around 7.5 million tons and 1.22 kilos of waste per inhabitant per day were generated (SUBDERE, 2019). Gunther Merzthal, Director-General of Education, Citizenship and Environmental Information of the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) of Peru [online, available in Spanish only] https://www.paiscircular.cl/consumo-y-produccion/el-camino-hacia-la-economia-circular-en-el-peru/.
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E. Renovation of the North Building: application of the circular economy at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago During 2022 and 2023, work will be carried out on the North Building of the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, which houses the Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Human Settlements, Documents and Publications, and CELADE-Population Divisions and the Information and Communication Technologies department, with a view to transforming it into a net zero building.15 This means that the building will generate all the energy needed to operate and that all its wastewater will be reused. Circular economy principles have been applied to this project since its conception, including in the design and construction stages, and it is currently in the tendering process.
1. Reuse, revalue, recycle Although the interior layout, materials and external walls and roof of the building will change radically, much of its structure will be reused. The items that must be removed from the current building will not end up in a landfill; instead, there will be a detailed study of whether they can be reused in the new building and the construction items that cannot be reused in the project itself, are in good condition, and have useful life left will be reused in other projects or will be donated to institutions of social interest. Lastly, if the removed items cannot be reused, they will be sent to recycling plants so that they can be transformed into other products. The consultant in charge of the renovation project has prepared a full description and catalogue of construction materials, equipment and systems, with a view to producing a recycling plan to be applied by the construction company that wins the tender.
2. Ecodesign The design of the new building includes the use of materials and products that are aligned with the circular economy. For example, the aggregates used in concrete for floors or walls —extraction of which has a great environmental impact— will be replaced by black slag, a by-product from metallurgical processes. In roofs, ceilings and walls, locally produced insulation will be used that is made of vegetable fibres rather than synthetic fibres, with a very low environmental impact. To stimulate local economies, the new building design includes the possibility of applying artisanal clay cladding to some areas, which would involve a group of small-scale producers in this project with high technological standards. A specialized computer program will be used to monitor the carbon footprint of the construction and subsequent operation of the building, to comply with the strictest applicable international standards.
3. Circular energy A photovoltaic solar plant will be installed on the roof of the new building, generating enough energy to supply the new building in full. On days when energy consumption is low, the surplus could be redistributed to other ECLAC headquarters buildings and could even be transmitted to the public grid. All the wastewater generated by the building will be treated and reused to water the gardens throughout the site.
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See [online] https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/zero-energy-buildings.
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Environmental Management Committee
Bibliography Apiñaniz, K. (2016), “La economía circular ya es real: 6 ejemplos que lo demuestran”, Consumer, 8 November [online] https://www.consumer.es/medio-ambiente/la-economia-circular-ya-es-real6-ejemplos-que-lo-demuestran.html Circular Economy Toolkit (n/d), “Maintain/Repair” [online] http://18.135.225.126/circulareconomytoolkit. org/maintain-repair.html. CONAMA (National Environment Commission of Chile) (2010), Primer Reporte del Manejo de Residuos Sólidos en Chile, Santiago. Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), “The circular economy in detail” [online] https://www. ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore/the-circular-economy-in-detail.
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