Cartagena, located on Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast, is the capital of the Bolívar Department and the fifth-largest city in the country, with a population of 1,013,389 and a population density of 1,600 people per square kilometer. It is also the second-largest city in the Caribbean region after Barranquilla.
Cartagena’s economy is driven by maritime trade, the petrochemical industry, and tourism, with twelve petrochemical manufacturing companies operating locally. In 2019, Colombia’s national plastic production reached 1,458,884 tonnes, with PVC and PP making up over 68% of this total (Acoplásticos, 2020). That same year, Colombia also imported 697,724 tonnes of plastic, led by HDPE (27.64%) and PET (20.71%), and consumed a total of 1,400,305 tonnes.
Cartagena contributed approximately 10% of the national production with 147,347 tonnes, in addition to importing 85,820 tonnes. According to the 2018 census by DANE, Cartagena accounted for 9.76% of all municipal solid waste collected in Colombia. Currently, about 20% of waste separation is performed at the source, while the remaining 80% is not.
PET, PP, and HDPE are the most commonly collected and mechanically recycled plastics, supported by a few major players in the recycling industry. Chemical recycling is spearheaded by Andercol, which operates a PET facility in the city. In response to plastic pollution, the city government introduced Agreement 039 on December 18, 2020, regulating the use of single-use plastics within public entities. This policy aims to foster citizen engagement and promote sustainable practices through environmental education and the gradual replacement of disposable plastic products.
