Abstract

ZAPATA BRAVO, Álvaro; VIEIRA ESCOBAR, Valentina; ZAPATA-DOMINGUEZ, Álvaro  and  RODRIGUEZ-RAMIREZ, Alfonso. The Circular Economy of PET bottles in Colombia. cuad.adm. [online]. 2021, vol.37, n.70, e2310912.  Epub Aug 10, 2021. ISSN 0120-4645.  https://doi.org/10.25100/cdea.v37i70.10912.

Our objective is to analyze the characteristics underlying the implementation of the Circular Economy strategy for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles and its influence on the management of such a container in Colombia for deployment and operation. According to Greenpeace International (2018), the packaging “use-and-throw-away” lifestyle has unleashed an emergency that has struck the health of ecosystems and living beings due to the use of plastic. Industries need to speed up their migration from a “linear economy” model, which implies producing, using, and disposing of goods, towards a “circular economy” that maximizes the use of resources and converts their waste into new materials (WEF, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey and Company, 2016). A descriptive methodology coupled with content analysis and in-depth interview was applied to characterize the use of PET bottles in the beverage industry in Colombia. The research identified the logistics chain (recycling - warehousing - transformer - producer - distributor - customer - consumption) and found problems in the recycling stage. PET producers have new responsibilities, namely Postobón, Coca-Cola, and Bavaria, with the first two leading the application of the circular economy on PETs for a decade.

Keywords : Circular economy; Strategies; PET; Implementation; Colombia.

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