IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v18y2026i5p2537-d1878588.html

Measuring Circular Impact: Using LCA to Validate the Environmental Performance of the Circular Vision Packaging Recovery System in Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Felipe Restrepo

    (Environmental Services, Casostenible S.A.S., Km 2 Vía Chía-Cajicá, Chía 250008, Colombia)

  • Valentina Ruge

    (Environmental Services, Casostenible S.A.S., Km 2 Vía Chía-Cajicá, Chía 250008, Colombia)

  • Andrea Bolañoz

    (Environmental Services, Casostenible S.A.S., Km 2 Vía Chía-Cajicá, Chía 250008, Colombia)

  • Angie Tatiana Ortega-Ramírez

    (Sustainable Processes Research Group (GPS), Department of Engineering, Universidad de América, Bogotá 110311, Colombia)

Abstract

The transition toward a circular economy is essential for reducing the environmental impacts of post-consumer packaging waste. In Colombia, the Circular Vision Collective operates a nationwide Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for packaging recovery and recycling. This study applies a life cycle assessment (LCA), in accordance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, to evaluate the environmental performance of the Circular Vision system during 2024. Using a functional unit of one metric ton of post-consumer packaging, three scenarios were assessed: landfill disposal, circular management and transformation, and avoided impacts from virgin material substitution. Seven packaging material streams were analyzed using SimaPro 9.6 and the Ecoinvent 3.10 database, supported by primary operational data. The results show that the circular management system delivers net environmental benefits across all evaluated impact categories, achieving reductions exceeding 10% in key indicators, such as global warming potential, energy demand, and resource use, particularly for plastics, metals, and paper-based materials.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe Restrepo & Valentina Ruge & Andrea Bolañoz & Angie Tatiana Ortega-Ramírez, 2026. "Measuring Circular Impact: Using LCA to Validate the Environmental Performance of the Circular Vision Packaging Recovery System in Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-27, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:18:y:2026:i:5:p:2537-:d:1878588
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/5/2537/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/5/2537/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:18:y:2026:i:5:p:2537-:d:1878588. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.