Grupo Retorna, a Non-Profit Entity, is the first alliance for the environmentally safe management of post-consumer waste in Colombia and Latin America. Represents companies from different economic sectors, helping to comply with the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility, integrating and optimizing operational processes, for the benefit of the country. Retorna is an initiative made up of six postconsumption systems, in order to promote compliance with the legal framework and public policy regarding the implementation of collection systems and comprehensive management of post-consumption waste, based on the application of environmental education, alliances, communication, among others, to generate behavioral changes regarding environmental awareness.
Overview
The Grupo Retorna Association is the first alliance for post-consumer waste management established in [Colombia]; It brings together more than 130 companies from the domestic pesticides, household appliances, electronics and automotive industries.
The strategic axis of the association is framed in the promotion of collective efforts in the field of Extended Producer Responsibility, to comply with the guidelines set forth by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the ONU (Organization of Nations United) and the Government of Colombia, at the head of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. This initiative is aimed at meeting the growing expectations of the various interest groups regarding environmental protection, complying with Colombian public policies and regulations. This shows the commitment of the sectors involved to manage the waste generated by their operation in an environmentally safe way; prevailing the union interest over the private interests and articulating collective actions.
It is made up of the Corporations: Cierra el Ciclo, EcoComputo, Pilas con el Ambiente, Red Verde, Recoenergy and Rueda Verde; supported by the National Association of Colombian Industry - ANDI; which function as groups, made up of companies that import and/or market the products corresponding to each of these collection and management systems. The Grupo Retorna has allowed to deliver a comprehensive value offer to the generators of this waste, allowing them to properly dispose and manage: Containers of household insecticides, computers and peripherals, used batteries, domestic electrical (“white goods”), used lead acid batteries and used tires, which could have effects on the environment and on health as proper management is not carried out in its final stage.
The circular economy strategy has been, since its creation, the main axis of work of the Grupo Retorna. The results that the Association and its associates are producing today reveal a responsible and continuous work for the sustainability of Colombia. The amount of waste that inadequately reaches the sanitary landfills has been reduced, soils have been protected by mitigating the pressure of discharges of such waste and, additionally, it has contributed to the reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) by reintegrating back to the economic cycle the materials that can be used, thus reducing the extraction of new resources from the earth. Grupo Retorna has reached more than 191 municipalities in the 32 departments of the country, benefiting more than 13 million inhabitants with collection, logistics, education and participation activities. In addition, the Group has more than 5,600 collection points arranged throughout the national territory, allowing Colombian citizens to properly dispose of their post-consumer waste.
Achievements of the corporations belonging to Grupo Retorna
The Corporación EcoCómputo has become the pioneering system of technological waste collection and management and a national and international benchmark in the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment. Since the beginning of its operations, it has collected nearly 5.3 million units and more than 15,300 tons of computer and peripheral waste in the country in eight years of operation. Since 2014 Red Verde has voluntarily managed more than 10,200 white goods units, of which approximately 76% correspond to the category of refrigerators. During its years of operation, it has accompanied the design and implementation of international cooperation projects and national initiatives aimed at contributing to the goal of reducing GHG emissions. Pilas con el Ambiente, a corporation in charge of treating used batteries, has collected more than 1.7 million kilos, preventing them from reaching landfills. The by-products generated from the management are integrated as raw material in industrial, agricultural processes, foundry material, among others. Rueda Verde, in its seven years of operation, has managed the management of more than 12 million tires, representing around 271,630 tons of rubber and steel, which again enter the flow of materials available to the industry, contributing direct to the goals set by the country in recovery and use of waste. The Corporación Cierra el Ciclo has at the consumer’s disposal more than 550 collection points located in 106 municipalities of the national territory. Since 2011, 22 tons of household insecticide containers have been managed. Recoenergy has currently managed more than 139,000 units of used lead acid batteries. The bet is aimed at working together with companies in the automotive sector that produce and / or import lead-acid batteries, in order to meet the sector’s main REP challenges. The Grupo Retorna association seeks to work in line with the actions of the circular economy in the management of the different categories of post-consumer waste through the treatment and / or use of its materials, reincorporating by-products within the production process and minimizing the generation of waste remnant of the final process.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Compendium of case studies on solid waste management.
