Gonzalo Muñoz of TriCiclos: "Garbage is a design error".
hace 8 year
We are getting closer and closer to the most important sustainability event in the region: nexos+1. At this meeting, synergies will be formed between business experts, business leaders, entrepreneurs, governments, international cooperation and multilateral banking to build innovative solutions to global challenges related to sustainability and climate change.
One of them is Gonzalo Muñoz, a global change agent, who after working for many years in the food sector, decided to found TriCiclos, a cultural movement towards environmental sustainability and social inclusion. His venture has become the most reputable post-consumer recycling company in Chile and the only one capable of tracking and monetizing EPR (Extended Supplier Responsibility) compliance. National environmental innovation award in 2011 and environmental character of Chile 2012, Gonzalo will be with us in the third edition of nexos+1 this October 24 and 25 and we took the opportunity to ask him 5 questions.
1. Tell us about TriCiclos: What is its purpose and what kind of environmental impacts has it had?
Our rationale is that waste is a design error. We understand, therefore, that it is an expensive mistake from many perspectives and what we need today is to correct those design errors. It does not only refer to redesigning products, but redesigning the way we consume and how we relate to nature, which we are impacting with our action and our disposal of waste, and how we design public policies. So, by defining our raison d'être in that waste is a design flaw, that inspires us to look at every aspect where what we were doing is designing and inventing waste to redesign that and reestablish a model that moves away from a linear economy to a clean economy.”.
2. Why should today's companies have a purpose?
Today's companies must have purpose for different reasons. It's not that companies didn't have purpose before, because they have. I believe that today's companies have a broader purpose than those of the last 100 years. In the last 100 years the primary corporate purpose of maximizing work for shareholders has left companies in an empty space. Not only have they lost their essence and scope of action, but this has caused companies to become disconnected from their surroundings, from their environment.
Companies became disconnected from the natural environment and from those people who are involved in the work of the companies and their owners. They forgot to inspire from their ethics, from their need to transcend and connect with customers and suppliers. The first companies were created from a very specific environment. Before, the environment was very micro, the economic activity was confined to that direct environment, very close to them. Therefore, nobody was going to go against that environment because the people who were involved in the economic activity cared about the environment.
Today, with the expansion of globalization, it is very difficult to connect with the quality of life of that person who is on the other side of the world. This giant world that now appears small to us. If a company has no purpose and does not connect with its reality, it runs the risk of failing in the short term.
Resources are limited, impacts are highly visible, and people working in companies question more easily. Without purpose, companies will have a harder time attracting talent and retaining suppliers. Many companies realize that the previous model of the business paradigm no longer holds.
3. How has incorporating the sustainability approach impacted the profitability and reputation of your venture?
The sustainability approach should always be linked to better performance. Today we must talk about performance and purpose. It is a challenge of intelligence; we have raised several generations of business managers who have been educated only with the value of performance. Today we are talking about another intelligence, another management capacity.
When you manage to combine performance and purpose, what starts to happen is that you realize that many eco-efficiency dynamics even lead to a reduction in costs. When you take this relationship to the human side, you will have a committed team with a better level of productivity and, therefore, you will have a better performance. At the customer-business level, you will have customers who become more loyal and pursue your purpose. On the supplier side, you will find that they will want to work closer to you.
Working with performance and purpose should be the standard for everyone.
What will your presentation/participation in nexos+1 be about? What will you share with the participants?
Manifesting what we are promoting is no longer an option, it is necessary. There are many opportunities and it is feasible to do it here in Latin America. It requires resilience, innovation, commitment. It will not be possible to think of a job that has not integrated sustainability as a variable within its organization. Sustainability metrics will emerge that will be managed on a day-to-day basis and, therefore, will be integrated into the success process. We need business models that reward and encourage sustainability criteria.
5. Why do you think it is important to have events like Nexos+1 in Latin America?
nexos+1 is the gateway to sustainability understood as a collaborative platform for communication and exchange of experiences where bridges can be created between people and organizations. This type of initiative should be replicated in many countries in the region and “hopefully there will be multiple nexos+1 replicating permanently in Peru.
Spaces like Nexos+1 are important for communication and the creation of solutions.
Remember that you can still separate your space for nexos+1 here.
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About nexos+1
nexos+1 was born in 2015 to bring together companies, entrepreneurs, cooperation and government in a platform with virtual spaces and... Read more
