Through a seal Guayaquil wants to promote the circular economy in its companies

In order to establish a cantonal public policy that promotes an economic model that is committed to sustainability and encourages the commercial spirit of the people of Guayaquil, the creation of the seal has been proposed. Guayaquil Circular. This week the Municipal Public Company for the Management of Innovation and Competitiveness (Épico) in conjunction with the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (Espol) and ESPOLTECH organized the first work table for the creation of the Regulation for the Granting of the Guayaquil Circular recognition and the operation of the seal.

More than 20 representatives of public and private companies and academia participated in this meeting, who established criteria and actions for the structuring of the regulation. Guayaquil Circular will be a seal that will identify, accompany and potentiate the processes of products and services designed, manufactured or executed in Guayaquil and that integrate circular economy principles into their production or management model., says Belén Pastor, manager of Sustainable Competitiveness at Épico. The seal will have the academic endorsement of Espol.

The official indicates that this idea arises from the approval of the ordinance to promote the circular economy that was carried out last year and from the need that the post-pandemic reality showed to implement sustainable productive and economic processes.

“We need new production systems that allow cities to be sustainable over time. Guayaquil is one of the main cities (in Ecuador and the region) that has a high risk of flooding due to climate change. It is proposed to create this regulation not only to recognize but to expand the good practices that companies are applying at the level of policies and projects that are in the principles of the circular economy”, indicates.

The private companies present at the workshop (mostly large companies) were asked what could be improved and what would help them to have a label with these characteristics.

“We had already done an initial stage where we analyzed a little about the state of knowledge of terms, and especially at the level of SMEs (small and medium-sized companies), of circular economy. At the work table we already presented alternatives at the macro level of what this model would be like. One idea, for example, is to qualify projects, what scheme these projects should have, what schemes, support leading companies that are supplied with SMEs”, points out Ángel Ramírez, dean of the Faculty of Engineering in Mechanics and Production Sciences of the Espol.

Reaching the SME segment, the largest in the national economy, with strategies that seek the circular economy in their production processes is another of the objectives of the regulation and the seal.

“We have to find incentives that we are able to give as a municipality. An economic incentive is always sought, but we are analyzing others such as access to education for suppliers to remove costs from companies to generate synergy. It is something that has not been done before”, says Pastor.

Paulina Criollo, director of Espol’s sustainability program, describes the seal’s proposal as “innovative”, since it supports the growing interest of Guayaquil companies in adhering to the concepts of circular economy.

“Companies that do not join this type of initiative will be left without a market in the long term (since there are communities such as the European ones that are demanding these parameters from their suppliers). This is not only the responsibility of large companies but also of small ones, since the important thing about the circular economy is to know how to make sure that the waste that I produce, and it reaches a sanitary landfill, can be reinserted in the production chain. You have to see them from three axes: economic, social and environmental“, it states.

The first “run” of the seal would be in 2023. However, it is expected that in the Innovation Week, organized by Espol in November, a first proposal for the regulation and the seal will be presented so that it can be socialized with businessmen. It is sought that in the first quarter of next year the regulation and the seal will be raised for debate in the cantonal council for approval.

“Our goal is to give SMEs more tools and encourage business creation. Ecuador does not lack laws or regulations and as a country we have enough, but we lack compliance and education to understand the relevance of these issues. There are things that we must do and not because there is an incentive or a punishment. The circular economy moves billions of dollars in the world, which opens the doors for you on credit, to new markets. You have to see it as an opportunity and that Guayaquil becomes a national and hopefully international benchmark”, adds Pastor. (YO)