The Award Ceremony for the Uruguay Circular Award was held at the ANTEL Telecommunications Tower.
It is an initiative promoted by the PAGE Uruguay Program, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, the National Development Agency and the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development.
The event aimed to celebrate and publicize the winning initiatives nominated in the different categories awarded in the third edition: large companies, MSMEs, entrepreneurs, cooperatives and other associations, communities and educational institutions. For its realization, it had the support of ANTEL in facilitating the room.
The vice president of the Republic, Beatriz Argimón; the undersecretary of Industry, Energy and Mining, Walter Verri; the president of the National Development Agency, Carmen Sánchez; and the representative for the Southern Cone, Manuel Albaladejo.
The objective of the award is to recognize and make visible the initiatives of companies, enterprises, cooperatives and other associations, communities and educational institutions, which better promote the transformation of the country towards a circular economy.
Winning initiatives
In the large companies category, the winning initiative was BADER. A proposal that arises with the purpose of reducing the consumption of natural resources for productive purposes. It refers to the water consumption of a semi-emergent well that was used for the daily filling of cabins and extraction tanks in the leather finishing process. By reusing the final effluent, they were able to: reduce well water consumption and the amount of effluent discharged into the canal. The result so far is the reduction of approximately 300 to 500 m3 per month. Simultaneously, the amount of final effluent discharged into the canal has been reduced by 40%.
In the MIPYMES category, the winning initiative was RCD. This company manages construction waste by generating new products from recycled concrete, reducing the volume of rubble in landfills.
They revalue waste, working in line with international circular economy models and the new Waste Law. Its purpose is to promote the culture of recycling, promote environmental awareness and promote good practices for quality architecture without waste.
In the entrepreneurship category, the winning initiative was URUSU. Efficient Market Ecotaller URUSU is a circular business model called neo carpentry. It consists of a workshop with a team of professionals working, oriented to the manufacture of furniture for outdoor use based exclusively on recycled and Uruguayan materials. In addition, the Ecotaller created a new job niche, capable of employing trained technical personnel and providing quality employment. The information collected on how to work the material is being recorded to create a course.
The Ecotaller not only processes revalued materials, but also manages its own workshop waste, in a responsible way, ensuring that everything is reused or transformed into new products.
In the cooperatives and other associations category, the winning initiative was Cooperativa Social Unidos por la Classification, which carries out its activity in the city of Paysandú, carrying out a “clean circuits” work plan.
They identify companies and institutions to be able to develop a clean waste management process, specifying the recovery of these products from the separation of recyclable material in the places of origin. Then the cooperative processes this material and sells it to national companies that process it for later recycling.
Companies and institutions can be linked through the mobile application “I recycle”.
The winner in the communities category, the winning initiative was Rosario Clasifica y Recicla. It is a group of volunteers who promote the circular economy by donating the recyclable materials they receive from different parts of the department, to businesses and organizations that reuse or finance them. In addition, they disseminate about recycling, caring for the environment and workshops to involve the community. They aspire to continue growing and improving so that the entire process is more efficient. In turn, they seek to infect other localities so that they join with similar ventures.
In the educational institutions category, the winning initiative was Liceo Verde. A proposal from students and teachers of the Pan de Azúcar High School, which aims at a high school and a sustainable and environmentally friendly community.
In the institution they manage organic waste, placing containers to classify them and then place them in the vermicomposting with Californian red worms that transform it into humus that they use for their garden.
On the other hand, they incorporated management for plastic waste, since they are a collection point for eco-bricks in the department of Maldonado. They also have an alliance with the municipality of Solís to collect bottles that are then taken to classify. In addition, they make containers and place them in strategic points of the high school for the classification of plastics, which they use in eco-bricks that are then raw material for bio-construction.
Mentions
In addition to the winners, the following mentions were given:
In the large companies category: ATMA – FNC “Pilsen Circular Boxes”.
In the MIPYMES category: ABITO.
In the entrepreneurship category: Glass Sands and Citizen Compost
In the educational institutions category: Liceo Nº 7 “Joaquín Suárez”.
