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Circular Economy Centre

Promote the recovery and reincorporation of waste into the productive system in the city of Bariloche, promoting local development with environmental impact.

Municipality

AR
San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro,

Category / Sub-Category / Topic

Environment, Environmental Education

Type of investment needed

Grant

Associated SDGs

The challenge

In Bariloche, 7,500 tonnes of MSW are produced monthly, of which only 70 tonnes (less than 1%) are recovered through the Bariloche Recyclers Association (ARB), and most of it is transported more than 1,600 kilometers for sale, increasing the carbon footprint.

In this context, the aim is to generate local solutions to advance the production chain, thus avoiding the transport of waste for recovery and minimizing the "burial" of waste in the locality. 

The project

The project seeks to incorporate Circular Economy practices to reduce and revalue MSW, mainly those that are most problematic for the city, taking advantage of the land adjacent to the current landfill, which has a strategic location for the installation of enterprises linked to the recovery of MSW to convert them into inputs for new products.

The strategy will be to carry out a competition to encourage the installation of initiatives, where the 3 (three) best proposals that generate a resource from waste will be selected. Each winning initiative will receive technical assistance for the development of the project, economic assistance through seed capital, along with the session of a property adjacent to the landfill so that they can install their productive enterprise linked to the recovery of waste, reducing the carbon footprint and environmental pollution.

This competition will be launched in a Circular Economy event framework to disseminate, raise awareness and promote the concept.

The benefits of introducing a Circular Economy approach aim to mitigate part of the problems generated by the disposal of MSW in landfills, as well as taking advantage of available resources that can be reinserted into the production chain and generate new businesses, saving in turn, inputs that would otherwise be generated through the extraction of more non-renewable natural resources.

Know more...

The city of San Carlos de Bariloche has a population of about 145,000 inhabitants and is one of the most important tourist cities in the country, based on its natural resources in and around the area, with an important flow of tourists both nationally and internationally. It is estimated that the city receives 700,000 tourists per year, of which 20% are international.

With regard to the city's solid urban waste (SUW), both the accelerated increase in population and the strong seasonal influx of tourists that the city receives year after year has deepened the problem of SUW management. It is estimated that 250 tonnes of waste are produced daily in the city.

The initial treatment was through an open-air landfill, which represents a source of contamination due to the generation of leached liquids and the emission of GHGs, later incorporating the sanitary landfill (year 2012) located in the Municipal Landfill, on National Route 40 South, KM 8.500, which with the population growth has been surrounded by urban neighborhood.

This set of situations has generated a series of problems that require attention, listing the most important:

-Environmental pollution due to GHG emissions generated by the decomposition of untreated waste (mainly methane CH4) affects both natural resources and the entire population, mainly those living near the landfill.

-Visual pollution, mainly considering the flow of tourists that the city receives.

-Risk of fires.

-Health impact due to leachate and smoke from the fires at the local landfill.

Axis 1: Location development

-Study and definition of site arrangements.

-Execution of improvements for the upgrade of the site (division of the internal electrical installation of electricity and water, signposting of common spaces, among others),

Axis 2: Circular Economy Event 

-Execution of an event to disseminate the concept of Circular Economy. The event aims to be a space not only for those entrepreneurs interested in the competition, but also for the community to become aware of the importance of waste separation, and understand the chain of positive impacts that this entails. Expert speakers, key actors in the sector, and the entrepreneurial community will be invited to participate.

-Define the baseline for the impact assessment.

-Disseminate the event through different social networks and media.

-Execution of the day of the event.

AXIS 3: Competition

-Drafting of the rules for participating in the competition (call for entries and selection criteria, minimum conditions for participation, scope of the prizes, other legal aspects).

-Launch of the competition (within the framework of the event).

-Receipt of applications, processing, and analysis.

-Selection and publication of the winners of the competition.

AXIS 4: Business support

-Work plan to support the three winning companies.

-Evaluation of the impact of the initiatives. 

Direct Results:

-3 Entrepreneurships develop their business model based on the recovery and reuse of waste and generate sources of employment in the locality.

-60 members of the ARB (Asociación de Recicladores de Bariloche) who will sell recovered material.

-The Municipality, promoting a cleaner and greener city.

Indirect results: 

-The population of Bariloche living in a healthier environment. 

-Tourists coming to enjoy green spaces, benefiting from a cleaner and more sustainable city. 

Environmental impact: 

-Reduction of untreated waste contributes to mitigating environmental and visual pollution.

-Reduction in the extraction of material resources for product manufacturing, as recovered ones are used.

Economic impact:

-3 ventures generating economic income for the city and new sources of employment.

-Increased sales for the ARB

Social impact:

-Improved quality of life for the population living in the vicinity of the landfill due to reduced burning and quantity of waste.

  • AVINA: Latin American foundation that promotes sustainability through collaborative processes (www.avina.net)
  • Delterra: independent non-profit environmental organization (www.delterra.org)
  • Eugenia Ordoñez, Secretary of Production, Innovation and Employment in the Municipality of San Carlos de Bariloche (Mail: eugeniaordonez@gmail.com).
  • María Lucía Reparaz, Analyst of Productive Projects in the area of Punto Pyme, Secretary of Production, Innovation and Employment (puntoemprepyme@gmail.com).
  • Florencia Fioramanti Bertozza, Analyst of Productive Projects in Punto Pyme.
  • Laura Ferman, Analyst in the Division of Associative Work of the Secretariat of Production, Innovation and Employment.
  • Gastón Nahuel Quispe Castros, Coordinator of the FabLab area within the Secretariat of Production, Innovation and Employment.


Investment

(*): In kind/pro bonus

(**): Financing

Goods and inputs
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Cartelería-banners-impresiones-carpetas EC (*) (**)

u$s 794.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 794.00

Services
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Catering para evento EC (*) (**)

u$s 238.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 238.00

Human resources
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Asistencia técnica Punto Pyme + Fab Lab por 1 año en modelo de negocio, diseño, etc. (**)

u$s 5236.00

u$s 5236.00

u$s 0.00

Asistencia técnica Punto Pyme + Fab Lab por 1 año en modelo de negocio, diseño, etc. (**)

u$s 48.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 48.00

Locutor para evento EC (*) (**)

u$s 32.00

u$s 32.00

u$s 0.00

Disertantes para evento EC (*) (**)

u$s 2381.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 2381.00

Others
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Fondos Capital Semilla para impulsar a 3 emprendimientos en implementación de negocios con enfoque circular (**)

u$s 41841.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 41841.00

Acondicionamiento predio para instalación de emprendimientos. División de instalación eléctrica y de agua. (**)

u$s 6695.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 6695.00

Valuación predio por 3 años a tres emprendimientos (aporte de contrapartida) (**)

u$s 72301.00

u$s 72301.00

u$s 0.00

Alquiler de salón y sonido para evento de EC (*) (**)

u$s 159.00

u$s 159.00

u$s 0.00

TOTAL AMOUNTS:

u$s 129725.00

u$s 77728.00

u$s 51997.00

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