Cruz Verde Achieves Gold Category Zero Waste Certification

Cruz Verde becomes the first drugstore chain to earn the Zero Waste Gold Category

 

• Cruz Verde reaffirms its commitment to sustainability by consolidating an innovative circular economy model at its distribution center (CEDI).
• The environmental management program led by Cruz Verde achieved 80% overall recycling and 91% actual recycling, allowing more than 850 tonnes of materials to be reintroduced into the production chain instead of being sent to landfill.

Bogotá, September 22, 2026. With the aim of transforming the supply chain of the pharmaceutical industry in Colombia, Cruz Verde reaffirms its commitment to sustainability by consolidating an innovative circular economy model at its distribution center (CEDI). Through a comprehensive strategy based on reducing, reusing and recycling, the company’s CEDI became the first in a drugstore chain to obtain the highest level of the Zero Waste certification (Gold Category), granted by ICONTEC and Global Zero Waste.

The results achieved during 2025 reflect the impact of this strategy. The environmental management program achieved 80% overall recycling and 91% actual recycling, allowing more than 850 tonnes of materials to be reintroduced into the production chain instead of being sent to the Doña Juana landfill. This management is aligned with the corporate goal of sending zero waste to landfill by 2030.

The model also produced measurable environmental results. During the year, the initiatives implemented saved 37,000 cubic meters of water, conserved more than 5,800 MWh of energy across the logistics chain and avoided the emission of 2,329 tonnes of CO₂. In addition, the program included a strong awareness and training component that has involved more than 800 employees, suppliers and strategic partners, strengthening a shared environmental culture that lasts over time.

 “At Cruz Verde we see sustainability as a commitment to the planet, our community and our people. That is why we work to go beyond waste management, promoting recovery, extending useful life and finding new ways to bring materials back into our processes. This is how we move toward an ever more efficient, circular and responsible operation”, explained Katherine Roa, Deputy Director of Sustainability at Cruz Verde.

The impact of this work becomes even more relevant given the global waste challenge. According to the World Bank, 23% of waste is not collected and 33% is dumped in open landfills. The situation is even more critical in low-income countries, where 60% of solid waste is not collected and 93% is mismanaged[1]. In line with this, moving toward sustainable models is key to tackling this environmental challenge.

 

How does Cruz Verde’s “Zero Waste” model work?

The strategy implemented by the company rests on three operational pillars:

1. Reduction of single-use packaging: returnable crates were introduced for shipments to Bogotá, the Sabana and Valle del Cauca, with plans to expand their geographic coverage during 2026. In addition, the launch of the Isobox system replaced the polystyrene coolers used to transport products, cutting the use of 36,000 disposable coolers in its first year, made from one of the most difficult materials to dispose of in the industry.

2. Reuse and inspection of supplies: through a specialized technical recovery area, in 2025 Cruz Verde brought back into use 491,000 cardboard boxes (15.7% recovery), 215,000 units of refrigerant gel (25% recovery) and 7,400 polystyrene coolers (5.7% recovery), after putting them through strict quality and cleaning controls.

3. Recycling and in-house innovation: in a 70 m² area dedicated to processing materials, and in partnership with Recuperadores Circulares, the company recycles an average of 70 tonnes of waste a month. As part of this process, the recovered cardboard is die-cut and turned into a flexible protective mesh for packaging, an initiative that produced 67 tonnes of eco-friendly filler during 2025.

Finally, with these advances, Cruz Verde shows that responsible resource management can be built concretely into operations and deliver measurable environmental benefits. The challenge now is to keep scaling these solutions and consolidate practices that contribute to a more efficient supply chain, ready for the environmental challenges of the future.

  

About Cruz Verde

We are a company with more than 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, specializing in the purchase, storage, distribution, sale and delivery of health and wellness products and services, contributing with excellence to the quality of life of customers, employees and communities. Since arriving in the country in 2012, we have offered a broad portfolio of comprehensive services through our 5 business lines: Retail, through a chain of more than 1,080 drugstores in 28 departments; Dispensing, delivering medicines to more than 6 million members of Social Security Entities; Wholesale Distribution, selling to more than 300 public and private clinics and hospitals; In-Hospital Pharmacy Management, with comprehensive supply and dispensing management inside more than 39 major clinics and hospitals nationwide; Medicarte IPS, through medication administration and comprehensive treatment for orphan diseases with a network of 22 specialized outpatient centers, 4 pharmacies in 18 cities and more than 186,000 users; and the Unified pharmacy model with 18 pharmacies in 16 municipalities.