Innovation

Today's plastic waste is really disturbing because it is a material with a really long life cycle and we are not giving it the correct final disposal. according to engineer Alfredo Ayala "Ecoplak is an incredible idea through which we can give these plastics a second chance." They collected from homes, companies and people who dedicate their lives to recycling work. The plastics are crushed and then pressed to obtain an incredible plate with great performance and properties.

Ecoplak plates are used to build a large number of useful objects: furniture, tiles, floors, walls, chairs and complete houses, offices and any object and form that can be done by pressing and shaping. Now Ecoplak is the main substitute for agglomerate products used by all industries, cities and people.

In 2008, the company ORION S.A, with its ECOPLAK® brand, received the Innovation Award granted by the National Government of Colombia as the Best Medium-sized Company in Innovation and the Best Innovative Company in the whole country.

Inspiration

In 2005, Alfredo Ayala, an engineer by profession, was convinced of the future of human beings as forgers of a sustainable world. He designs and develops a machine to handle plastic materials that are discarded daily, and as a parallel business he founded Ecoplack, where different products are made based on all recycled materials and which gives a second life to everything that is commonly called garbage.

“We all see the climate problems and we also have an environmental responsibility not only as people but as companies, so we wanted from RIORION to make a missional responsibility and awareness contribution by creating Ecoplak also as part of our business,” said Mr. Alfredo Ayala.

Overall impact

Ecoplak promotes better use of plastic waste, reducing the bad impact they find on the environment. As engineer Alfredo Ayala tells us "The purpose is to replace objects that demand wood and, in parallel, we are creating jobs for people who work at the plant, supporting the work of many poor people who are dedicated to recycling, offering people an alternative with better performance than conventional agglomerate products at a competitive price."

Business benefit

Ecoplak offers a range of high quality products for any use, betting on design, innovation, social and environmental responsibility and the desire to make the planet a better place for new generations.

This is why one of the objectives as a company is to be able to satisfy the client but mitigate the negative growth of the environmental impact.

According to Mr. Alfredo Ayala, "In these 15 years around seventy thousand desks have been manufactured, 60 houses, 100 camps, ninety thousand tiles, twenty thousand tons of material have been recycled and around 2,965,772.93 million dollars have been generated, as well as quality work generated."

Social and environmental benefit

For every ton of plastic waste, we preserve 17 trees, avoiding further pollution caused by that plastic in the environment.

Ecoplak also has an important impact on society by generating job opportunities for many poor people and improving the form and concept of "recycler" in our country. These opportunities can generate in any city, no matter how big. According to Mr. Alfredo Ayala, "when we talk about recycling, it is also necessary to talk about the recycler, and now it is considered a formal job and they are also associated in cooperatives.".

Now Ecoplak has a regional market and its boss is in the city of Bogotá, but it is an idea that can be replicated anywhere with lots of plastic waste. Ecoplak products can also be marketed in most markets because the application of the Ecoplak sheet is almost unlimited.

Interview

Alfredo Ayala, Engineer