Journal of Business and entrepreneurial
October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023
http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista
e-ISSN: 2576-0971
journalbusinessentrepreneurial@gmail.com
Receipt: 05 December 2022
Approval: 06 July2023
Page 9-26
Circular economy model for reuse of plastic in eco-
efficient production of building materials
Modelo de economÃa circular para reutilización del plástico
en producción ecoeficiente de materiales de construcción
Villegas Pilay Yomayra Elizabeth
*
Bravo Carrasco Alex Rodolfo
*
Cruz Ronquillo Succety Irene
*
ABSTRACT
Plastic waste is causing severe environmental impact
to the terrestrial and marine ecosystem. Establish the
influence of the circular economy model for the
incorporation of plastic waste in the production of
raw materials (blocks or bricks) for the construction
sector. Descriptive, quali-quantitative, field study,
using survey and interview. The findings obtained
showed that it is possible to use recycled plastic
waste products in the manufacture of construction
materials, due to the quality requirements and the
lower costs generated by this eco-efficient option,
adjusted to the circular economy model, in the
construction sector. The use of construction
materials with recycled plastic waste content is
associated with the circular economy model,
promoting the economic reactivation of the
construction sector and the economic and social
development of the nation.
Keywords: circular economy, plastic waste,
recycling, eco-efficiency, construction materials
* MSc University of Guayaquil, Faculty of Economics. Guayaquil,
Ecuador. yomaira.villegasp@ug.edu.ec https://orcid.org/0000-
0002-1970-5022
*
MSc University of Guayaquil, Faculty of Economics. Guayaquil,
Ecuador. alex.bravoca@ug.edu.ec https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
0688-042X
*
MSc University of Guayaquil, Faculty of Economics. Guayaquil,
Ecuador. succetyirene@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
90641-2116
e-ISSN: 2576-0971. October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023 . http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista
10
RESUMEN
Los desechos plásticos están ocasionando severo
impacto ambiental al ecosistema terrestre y marino.
Establecer la influencia que tiene el modelo de
economÃa circular para la incorporación de los
desechos plásticos en la elaboración de materias
primas (bloques o ladrillos) para el sector de la
construcción. Descriptiva, cuali-cuantitativa, de
campo, con uso de la encuesta y la entrevista. Los
hallazgos obtenidos evidenciaron que es posible
utilizar los desechos de productos plásticos
reciclados, en la fabricación de materiales de la
construcción, por los requisitos de calidad y el
abaratamiento de costos que genera esta opción
ecoeficiente y ajustada al modelo de economÃa
circular, en el sector de la construcción. El uso de
materiales de construcción con contenido de
desechos plásticos reciclados, se asocia al modelo de
la economÃa circular, impulsando la reactivación
económica del sector de la construcción y el
desarrollo económico y social de la nación.
Palabras clave: economÃa circular, desechos
plásticos, reciclaje, ecoeficiencia, materiales de
construcción
INTRODUCTION
Climate change affects every country in the world, today, therefore, a global effort is
required from the rulers of each of the member countries of the United Nations
Organization (UN, 2018), to ensure the minimization of environmental pollution and
meet the objectives embodied in the 2030 Development Agenda, demonstrating that
management strategies can achieve the highest standards of sustainable production.
In this regard, economic activities have generated pollution of marine ecosystems,
making this problem one of the major concerns of the UN and its member organizations:
In view of this, Molina et al. (2021)(2021), referred to the latest report of this institution,
which reports millions of tons of plastic at the bottom of the seabed that, in addition to
e-ISSN: 2576-0971. October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023 . http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista
11
degrading the sea, also affect the species that live in this habitat, without having been
able to stop this conflictive situation.
In addition, Grover et al. (2020) states that there has been an exponential growth in the
pollution of the marine ecosystem, due to the dumping of waste plastic products in the
oceans, whose main cause is due to an increase in the production of manufactured
articles based on plastic resins, worldwide, where almost all manufacturing sectors have
included this type of raw materials in their industrial processes.
Continuing, BollaÃn and Vicente (2020) estimated an annual production volume of 400
million tons of plastic products, including food storage utensils, hygiene articles, toys,
the automotive industry, whose manufacturers have introduced polyethylene,
polystyrene, PVC, polypropylene, PET and other similar, as part of the resources that
are part of tubs, containers, doors, drawers, pens, covers, sanitary supplies, packaging,
computer cases, car parts, whose waste, in 80% of the cases, rest in the sea.
In view of this assertion, the UN (2021) urged countries not to neglect the activity of
recycling waste plastics, especially because in the year 2020 there was a greater
manufacture of plastics, but the recycling of their waste was reduced, because the
pandemic led to increased production of gloves, masks and other inputs for personal
protection against COVID-19, doubling the use of goods manufactured based on these
resins, which went from 52 to 110 tons per day of processing in Tehran and 1.470 tons
per month in Singapore, to give practical examples that allow us to perceive the problem
of contamination with these solid wastes that, according to the same entity, at least 70%
of them will go to the oceans.
Although the recycling of plastic products has been promoted for more than 30 years,
however, Vidal et al. (2021) points out that more than two thirds of plastic cannot be
recycled because they are difficult to reuse in industry, which weakens solid waste
management. Consequently, plastic waste accumulates in the form of garbage, which is
first expelled into the soil, but as erosion progresses, it reaches the mangroves and the
seas, where this waste is consumed by some marine species that do not metabolize it
and become intoxicated, maximizing the mortality rate of some aquatic species, in
addition to invading the natural habitat of different varieties of birds, fish and other
animals that live or depend on the seabed.
On the other hand, the construction industry was one of the most affected during the
pandemic, not only because of the fall in demand, but also because several of the inputs
used in this economic sector, increased their costs, some even doubled their prices, as
in the case of rolled steel coils, which increased their costs by 129%, while other steel
e-ISSN: 2576-0971. October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023 . http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista
12
pipes and profiles increased their prices by more than 70% between 2020 and 2022, as
a consequence of the COVI-19 restrictions, the container crisis and the war conflict
between Ukraine and Russia (Gutiérrez & López, 2007). (Gutiérrez & López, 2022)..
For these reasons, the circular economy has emerged as an alternative that seeks to
solve these problems, according to Ojeda and Mercante (2020): first, implementing the
principles of sustainability in the construction industry, to ensure the conservation of
natural resources and the protection of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, through
recycling and reuse of waste plastic products, to reduce pollution of these habitats of
aquatic and terrestrial species; second, to mitigate the problem of the rising cost of
inputs used by professionals in the construction sector, who can reduce the costs of
their work, with the development of alternative raw materials, from the use of recycled
waste plastic and produce in an eco-efficient manner.
In this regard, Porcelli and Martinez (2018) considered that the circular economy
consists of a continuous cycle, where the waste from the production of a good or
service, becomes the input of the next process, emulating the biological processes that
occur in nature, where there is no waste, because everything is renewed from the waste
generated in a corresponding phenomenon of nature. In this way, natural resources are
preserved, in addition to minimizing costs by reducing the purchase of inputs, managing
renewable flows that are adapted to the principles of environmental sustainability of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as set out in the text of the 2030 Agenda.
For this reason, it is important to write this article, the main purpose of which is to alert
experts and relevant organizations to massify the use of recycled plastic waste as raw
material for the production of inputs for the construction sector, through the application
of the circular economy model, in order to reduce the parameters of environmental
pollution.
Meanwhile, the theoretical justification for the use of the circular economy as a
management model to promote sustainable and eco-efficient production in the
construction industry is supported according to Carrillo and Pomar (2021)Theoretical
basis for the use of the circular economy as a management model to promote sustainable
and eco-efficient production in the construction industry is based, according to Carrillo
and Pomar (2021), on the principles of the 2030 Development Agenda, which has sought
to direct production and consumption towards the protection of resources, given that
industry is one of the sectors that generates the most pollution. Muyulema agrees with
these assertions. (2018)who explains that the circular economy is an alternative to use
the waste derived from the production of plastics, to minimize the problem of pollution
generated by them, when they become waste, on the one hand, but on the other hand,