Plaza de las Américas achieves a perfect Zero Waste score

The review carried out by Global Zero Waste confirms the shopping centre's operational excellence ahead of the follow-up audit with ICONTEC.

The Plaza de las Américas shopping centre has consolidated its position as a benchmark for sustainability in Latin America after achieving flawless compliance of 100% (31 out of 31 clauses) in the annual assessment of its Zero Waste Management System (SGZW).

This process, carried out on 8 July 2026 by Global Zero Waste under the rigorous International Standard Version 5.0, precedes the final certification process to be awarded by the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification (ICONTEC).

Sustainability milestones: figures that inspire change

The assessment report highlighted outstanding performance across every area of planning and operation of Integrated Solid Waste Management.

The most compelling figures reached during 2026 include:

• 91.85% real recycling rate so far this year.
• 69.74% general recycling rate.
• A 26% reduction in costs associated with the final disposal of waste, thanks to the optimisation of circular processes.
• A 6% drop in the volume of waste sent to landfill compared with previous periods.

"This is a Zero Waste Management System designed and implemented with solid maintenance and continuous improvement programmes, fully aligned with senior management's strategic direction."— Diego Camilo Romero Torres, lead assessor and technical director at Global Zero Waste.

Circular economy strategies and the "9 Rs"

The success of the Plaza de las Américas model rests on a robust environmental management infrastructure and on the roll-out of 22 strategies focused on the circular economy and the "9 Rs" (reduce, reuse, recycle, among others). These actions are applied across key materials such as paper, packaging, and electrical and electronic equipment.

The report also recognised the shopping centre as the site with the highest volume of post-consumer scheme collection in the country, confirming its ability to actively involve staff, partner retailers and visitors.

With this perfect score of 100 out of 100, Plaza de las Américas faces the final stage of external audit with ICONTEC. The milestone shows that large-scale retail spaces are not only operationally viable, but can lead the mitigation of environmental impact and drive the shift towards genuinely zero waste cities.

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