Victor Solis
Cesar Hermosillo
Daniela Soria
EGADE Business School Tecnologico de Monterrey
Ezequiel Reficco
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The slag is the main waste on the metals industry, the common operation is the disposal of those materials in dumps. Instead of doing it, there is a circular business model, where the slag is used instead of clay and limestone on the construction of roads.
The main innovation is the usage of slag on the construction of rural roads in Mexico, to connect those small villages which are in marginalization, improving the quality of life of the people who are living in those areas.
The SDGs which are being improved are no poverty, good health and well being, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, reduce inequalities, and responsible consumption and production.
Working on the steel industry and looking he realized that there was a lot of waste, searching for a way to reuse it and after looking for ways to fix the road to the family's ranch, he realized that it could be a good usage for the slag to substitute the limestone and clay on rural roads, since this roads are of low impact; by doing this he find out of the positive impact on the families near by, because nowadays they have access to better education, food and health services.
By getting better roads to the rural communities it can bring in a faster and affordable way access to better work, education, health, and fresh fruits and better products.
On the other hand, they re-use a zero-value (waste) product to reduce the total cost of a road by 25%.
In Mexico there are 6.9 million people who are living on marginalization. Every day Alejandro trades 150 m3 of slag which is useful for the construction of 130 km of rural roads per year, which can connect around 10 small villages which are living on marginalization.
The business have two ways of incomes. The metal company pays them by recollecting the slag. Then, he sells the slag to the construction firms for the rural roads. The price of slag is the half of the price of clay and limestone. The total revenue is around $250,000 per year.
This income supports the operation of the consulting group where are working 26 people. Some of the are working on the generation of new circular business model.
In Mexico there are 6.9 million people who are living on marginalization. Every day Alejandro trades 150 m3 of slag which is useful for the construction of 130 km of rural roads per year, which can connect around 10 small villages which are living on marginalization. Nowadays they have access to better services as better work, education, health, and fresh fruits and better products.
Also, this has a great impact on our environment, since clay and limestone and obtained from open mines, increasing deforestation. So, this helps on reducing this effect.
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Since 2009, the company is a consultant firm on developing circular business models for different kind of private companies, where they can control or not the operation of the obtained idea.
Also, they are operating the reuse of slag for the construction of rural roads. In order to reduce marginalization.