Asocolflores and ANDI join forces to promote a circular economy for flower farms in Colombia

With the purpose of generating a significant contribution to the environment and complying with the sustainable development objectives of the flower industry, ANDI, the National Business Association of Colombia and Asocolflores, the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters signed a partnership agreement that allows the
country´s flower companies to promote a circular economy in the Colombian countryside through the comprehensive management of waste containers and packaging as well as the differentiated special
management of post-consumption products generated by flower farms.

With the name Florece, the partnership of the two entities will seek, in its initial phase, to handle several tons of packages and special and differentiated waste products such as computers and computer parts, electrical home appliances, batteries, lead-acid batteries, and domestic insecticides, by implementing the strategies to close the cycle of these materials developed by Vision 30/30 and the Retorna Group, which are ANDI´s initiatives.

Therefore, the project will begin by training over 30,000 workers of the flower-growing sector in the classification of containers and packaging made of cardboard, paper, plastic, glass, and metal which are generated in the mess-halls and in other activities related to the productive processes. Likewise, training will also be given to recognize a special management for differentiated waste to be gathered inside special areas at the farms. These will be collected and taken to companies that convert them into new products, thus closing the circular economy cycle.

For the initial stage, Florece will join forces with six companies from Chía, Facatativá, Cogua, and Cota. Then it will replicate the project in other flower-growing municipalities along the Bogotá savannah and Antioquia. After complying with the initial objectives, the partnership
will reach out to different rural areas of the country. 

Florece is the presence of circular economy in the flowergrowing sector. It reflects the commitment of hundreds of companies affiliated to Vision 30/30 and the Retorna Group, as well as to Asocolflores which, in line with citizen expectations, public policies, the global development objectives, and the sustainability of businesses, joins forces to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.

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