No abstract

This paper analyses the management of municipal solid waste in the metropolitan area of Medellín (Colombia). The composition and production of solid waste, the collection system, the informal and formal sectors in the region, the different flows of materials and its final disposal, are some topics that have been considered. A basic model for the SWM system in the city has been developed based on the system dynamics methodology. With the help of the Vensim PLE software, it has been possible to simulate different scenarios, such as the implementation of the formalisation process of the informal waste pickers that are present in the city. The generation of waste for the residential sector in Aburrá Valley is 49,115.2 ton/month, and only 12.5% of the solid waste produced is reintroduced into the production cycle. Part of this work is done by approximately 4,474 waste pickers, but only 10.63% of them are part of pre-cooperatives or cooperatives. The outcomes of the model for the geographical area allow to conclude that the inclusion of the informal sector in the municipal solid waste management system would imply huge benefits related to the social, economic and environmental aspects of the system.

Ongoing environmental deterioration has led governments and other institutions to pay closer attention to pollution problems as pollutant emissions can significantly influence and constrain economic growth. Most countries on the American continent use the ISO 14001 standard and the number of new certifications grows year by year. This work empirically explores the influence of environmental management system based on ISO 14001 certifications upon the financial performance of Colombian companies, 133 ISO 14001 certified and 5,036 non-certified firms. A panel data analysis over three years was the data analysis method. This work studied the financial performance of the companies implementing EMS compared to those that did not in one of the most important Latin American economies (Colombia). It was found that a positive relationship exists between the ISO standard and financial performance measured through the companies’ Return on Assets (ROA).

Organizations can redirect their business models to solve the problem of materials depletion using environmental management and cleaner production as practices of the circular economy. This study aims to measure the relationship between environmental management, cleaner production, and organizational performance. Within this context, a survey of 372 companies was performed in the agro-industrial, manufacturing and construction sectors in three important productive regions of Colombia. Structural Equation Modeling was used for data analysis. The economic sector moderated the relationship between the latent variables. This phenomenon was analyzed using a multi-group technique. The results show that Cleaner production is positively related to Organizational Performance at corporations. The results show that Cleaner production is positively related to Organizational Performance at corporations. It was also observed that Environmental Management influences Cleaner Production. Finally, it is worth noting that productive sectors in Colombia tend to be committed to circular economy practices, some to environmental management and others to cleaner production with an impact on organizational performance. The result of the study may be useful for domestic and foreign investors and managers, for analysts and researchers, and for educators. The rationale behind this is an understanding that interactions between environmental management and cleaner production and organizational performance will influence the academic community or business activity to generate behaviors favoring the environment and sustainable development. These findings will be extremely useful for promoting future research studies on establishing an improved framework for the promotion of environmental management and cleaner production practices primarily among Colombian productive companies. This work can also serve as a reference for other industrial sectors and countries.