The Organization of American States (OAS) held two workshops this week in Colombia on “Closed Loop Cycle Production and Circular Economy: an Innovative Vision of Productivity,” in the framework of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA).

During the workshops, experts from the OAS and the National Center for Cleaner Production of Colombia (CNPML) trained some 370 business people, public officials and students in the cities of Medellin and Bogota in the innovative methodologies of closed loop cycle production and circular economy. This new production paradigm implies the development of industrial or manufacturing processes in which materials are used that are then converted into valuable nutrients at the end of their useful lives.

The workshops, organized by the OAS together with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MinCIT), the CNPML, and the University of Saint Buenaventura, seek to generate interest among businesspeople in this innovative vision of business and productivity.

During the workshops, experts in the issue introduced the participants to instruments and methodologies that form part of the vision of closed cycle production. For his part the Deputy Rector of the University, Jorge Albeiro Herrera, highlighted “the importance of promoting this innovative model of development.”

The Representative of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Colombia, Edith Urrego, highlighted the fundamental role of the OAS project for the development of entrepreneurship in that “in addition to academia and the public sector, this project can be brought to businesspeople.”

The workshops, held on July 29 in Medellin and August 1 in Bogota, are part of the project “Development of Sustainable Production toward a Circular Economy in Colombia,” of the “Closed Looped Cycle Production in the Americas” Program financed by the Permanent Mission of the United States to the OAS. This initiative aims to employ renewable energy and energy efficiency, eliminate the use of toxic chemical products, and eradicate the generation of waste through an intelligent design of products and services to improve environmental performance, as well as the productivity and competitiveness of businesses to facilitate the integral development of Colombia and its transition to a sustainable, competitive, and circular economy.

In addition, during the event a call was made to those businesses interested in participating in the pilot program, which consists of training and technical accompaniment by experts to identify the potential of the business to close the productive cycle in one of its products and assess these businesses in the preparation of proposals on closed cycle production for the application for available funds in the country or abroad.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.