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We received Zero Waste certification
for the 68th Avenue, group 7 project
Pavimentos Colombia achieved through ICONTEC the first Zero Waste certification, gold category, for a road construction site worldwide.
The IDU 0351 project, which corresponds to the construction of the 68th Avenue, group 7 in the city of Bogotá D.C., demonstrated its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the work and increased the rate of use of the waste generated.
With this milestone, Pavimentos Colombia continues to lead the path of sustainability in the road construction industry, strengthening its sustainability strategy and increasing its contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
To achieve this certification, the different departments of the IDU project worked in coordination with the workers associated and the community impacted by the project, which is in charge of the construction between 66th Street Avenue and 100th Street Avenue and Carrera 65A.
We highlight as main associated actions, the use of the pipe jacking methodology, which was implemented to build the new Emisario Norte storm drain, drilling with a tunnel boring machine to install the new pipe, without the need to implement traditional open pit technologies that increase the volumes of excavation and construction and demolition waste (C&DW), which also generate larger carbon footprint. With the above, to date we have achieved a reduction percentage of 88%. Along the same lines, we reuse the C&D waste generated at the construction site to reduce the use of virgin materials.
In addition, we incorporated recycled and milled rubber granules in the design of asphalt mixes, as a sustainable alternative to improve asphalt properties compared to conventional asphalt mixes.
In terms of sustainable actions in the reuse category, 350 tires were repacked and 179 were reused for the design of green areas along the construction site. We also promoted the reuse of PVC pipe waste, plastic bottles, wood, green shade net, signaling tapes, and plastic, among others.
We worked with organic and construction waste to create home and urban vegetable gardens, as well as bio digesters and bio digester bales. We took advantage of the vegetable waste generated by silvicultural treatments, producing fertilizer for new tree plantings, we managed plastic waste and used plastic wood to make planters.
During the certification event held today February 15, 2024, we were honored with the participation of Claudia Pérez Santos, Regional Director of ICONTEC, Sandra Milena Pinzón, Executive Director of Global Zero Waste and Sandra Aguilar of Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano IDU, all whom expressed their joy and gratitude for making possible the first worldwide certification of a road construction project, highlighting the promotion of zero waste ecosystems, operational efficiency and the improvement in the ranking scores in sustainability standards.
Pavimentos Colombia, its executives and the entire work team will continue to work in a daily basis for the environmental sustainability of its operation, Bogota and the country.
