The pressure on landfills in Colombia continues to increase, driven by industrial growth, mass consumption, and limitations of final disposal infrastructure. In this scenario, industrial recycling and waste utilization are consolidated as key alternatives to reduce environmental impact and advance towards circular economy models.
Results of 2025
During 2025, more than 50,000 tons of waste were prevented from reaching landfills in Colombia thanks to the utilization, valorization, and industrial recycling processes developed by Atica, a company with over 30 years of experience in comprehensive waste management.
According to company figures, this volume corresponds to materials that traditionally would have ended up in final disposal but were reincorporated into production chains, transformed into secondary raw materials, or converted into environmental and energy value solutions.
Main achievements
2,000 tons of post-consumer waste: containers and packaging collected through selective collection plans, reincorporated into industrial recycling processes.
10,000 tons of processed plastics: post-consumer and post-industrial waste transformed into resin or recycled pellet, reused as a productive input.
7,000 tons converted into Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF): alternative energy that partially replaces fossil fuels in the cement sector, reducing coal and coke emissions.
70,000 tons of hazardous waste treated: through specialized technologies such as controlled incineration, ensuring public health protection and compliance with environmental regulations.
Environmental and social impact of industrial recycling
These results reflect the progress of the circular economy in Colombia and the role of technical waste management as a tool to:
- Reduce pressure on landfills.
- Decrease environmental impacts associated with waste transportation and burial.
- Generate economic and energy value from waste.
In a country where landfill saturation and rising final disposal costs represent a growing challenge, these initiatives are especially relevant for industries, municipalities, and environmental authorities.
The role of the private sector
Mauricio Abondano, Chief Growth Officer (CGO) of Atica, highlighted:
“Every ton of waste we manage to utilize is one less ton ending up in landfills. The challenge is to develop industrial solutions that allow transforming those wastes into inputs, energy, or alternative fuels, maintaining the continuity of essential environmental services for the country.”
Through its operations, Atica manages utilizable, industrial, and post-consumer waste in different regions of the country, articulating circular economy models that allow multiple productive sectors to reduce their environmental footprint and comply with increasingly strict regulatory demands.
Atica’s case demonstrates that waste utilization is not only an environmental strategy but also an economic and social solution to address the final disposal crisis in Colombia. The circular economy positions itself as an essential path to ensure sustainable, competitive, and resilient development.
