The private sector's role in Colombia to achieving the circular economy and the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are two well-known initiatives to address issues like social injustice, environmental pollution, and resource scarcity. While these two initiatives have received the support of the Colombian government through plans and strategies, little is known about the involvement of private companies. The aim of this study was to examine the CE and SDGs' implementation in the Colombian private sector. The entities linked with the United Nations Global Compact served as the study population, which was assessed by a semi-structured survey whose data was handled by descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Findings indicate that 75% of the entities are supporting the SDGs and adopting the CE model simultaneously. The food and transportation sectors show the highest levels of alignment towards CE, followed by mining and manufacturing. Waste management is the most implemented type of CE practice (65%), while supply chain management is the least (20%). The SDGs that receive the most attention are SDG 17, SDG 6, SDG 16, and SDG 12. Conversely, SDG 2 and SDG 5 receive the least support.