DECEMBER 06, 2011, WASHINGTON, DC – During the week of November 28 to December 02, 2011 meetings were held in Quito, Ecuador, regarding closed-looped cycle production in Ecuador as part of the “Closed Looped Cycle Production in the Americas” initiative. The principle goal of the initiative is to introduce the Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) design philosophy in the production sector of Ecuador as an innovative business development tool to mainly improve energy efficiency and environmental performance in the industrial sector while simultaneously increasing the productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of businesses, in particular Small and Mediums size Enterprises (SMEs).

Meetings were held with partner ministries including the Ministry of Coordination of Production, Employment and Competitiveness (MCPEC), Ministry of Industry and Production (MIPRO), Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (MEER), Ministry of Environment (MAE) and other key stakeholders in the Government of Ecuador exchanging ideas on how to guarantee the C2C application by collectively prioritizing sub-sectors in line with the National Development Plan “Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir” and the “Agenda para la transformacion Productiva”.

Photo: Meeting with Mr. Ballen Mancero, Deputy Minister and Sub-secretary of Commerce and Investments, staff of the Ministry of Industry and Production (MIPRO) and the CLCP Ecuador Project Team at the offices of MIPRO (Source: OAS)

Furthermore the Project team, composed of a consortium of leading entities in the theme of Cradle-to-Cradle design, the Cradle-to-Cradle Expo Lab (C2C Expo Lab) based in the Netherlands, the National Centre for Cleaner Production of Colombia (CNPML), backed by the OAS Department of Sustainable Development’s technical team composed of both international as local consultants, met with representatives of Chambers of Commerce, Universities, International Agencies, including USAID, FAO and UNIDO in Quito to gather feedback and identify collaborative efforts to guarantee proper implementation of the project.

Photos: Meeting with Donors / International Organizations in Ecuador (left) and meeting with key stakeholders in the Swissotel, Quito (right) (Source: OAS)

Phase II of this initiative, which is financed by the United States’ Department of State under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), contemplates the design of a pilot project in collaboration with a firm in a prioritized sub-sector in order to certify the first C2C product in Latin America. This is part of a national program under leadership of MCPEC that includes creating and improving capacity of government and national enterprises, in particular SME’s in prioritized sub-sectors to carry out C2C product development project(s) within the Ecuadorian production sector; (2) to set up or establish an institutional framework among all relevant stakeholders to facilitate cooperation, dialogue and the proper design and implementation of C2C development project(s); (3) establish a proper legal and regulatory framework to address market barriers in order to incentivize and facilitate the production and introduction of the C2C products; and (4) to showcase and/or prove the profitability and sustainability of businesses (including SMEs) within the production sector applying the C2C method.

Photos: Presentation by Walter Araya (OAS/DSD) (left) and presentation by Roy Vercoulen (C2C Expo Lab) (right) (Source: OAS)

For more information, contact the principle technical advisor, Mr. Rubén Contreras, Program Manager, Mr. Kevin de Cuba, and/or the Program Coordinator, Mr. Walter Araya.