Abstract

The circular economy is a strategy based on reducing the consumption of materials and generating waste and maximizing loops, however, there is a risk that actions in this direction do not consider their environmental effects. This study seeks to analyze the effective flows of two municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems (La Pintana and Vitacura) and evaluate their environmental impacts under a life cycle approach. In Vitacura, 7% of the waste is stored for recycling and in La Pintana, the organic fraction treatment only reaches 2.6% of the MSW. Considering the climate change category, in Vitacura a reduction of 80 kg CO2 eq/t (20%), while in La Pintana the reduction is only 9 kg CO2 eq/t (2%). For other impact categories, Vitacura's management model also presents emission reductions, as well as benefits from avoided products, concentrating on those generated by the saved process energy. In the case of La Pintana, the situation is not so favorable, since operational deficiencies in the treatment of wastewater from the composting process cause an increase in emissions for the categories terrestrial acidification and human toxicity. The implementation of both systems is among the alternatives for the implementation of the circular economy on a communal scale, however, both are symbolic operations, since the circular flows and the reduction of impacts are minimal.