Circular economy vision for local development focused on waste derived from two agricultural crops in Ecuador

Abstract

The circular economy is a fundamental axis to achieve sustainable development, applying these principles to the agricultural sector is essential, especially in countries that produce raw materials such as Ecuador, the objective of this research being to establish the use of derived waste of two agricultural crops in Ecuador, under a vision of the circular economy for local development. The inductive and deductive method was applied, the variables considered are the production of sugar cane and rice, based on this, the analytical method was used where the information obtained through surveys, interviews, bibliographic review and collected data was interpreted. The results found show that the cultivation of sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum ) in Ecuador represents 9% of the national agricultural GDP, and in the last decade an average of 81.5 tons year*ha-1 was cultivated, with an amount of annual residues of 793283.38 ton*year-1 that represent an energy potential of 15746.26 TJ*year-1. On the other hand, rice (Oryza sativa) was cultivated with an average of 25.33 ton*year-1 nationwide, generating 2106695.86 ton*year-1 of annual waste of straw and rice husk, its energy potential of 28356.98 TJ*year-1. It is a real challenge in the country to opt for tools for the use of rice residues, since, although it is true, there are agro-industrial companies that have that, but an optimal organization has not been carried out in terms of the generation of residues with which small producers engaged in this activity. However, despite the fact that the residues derived from these two add up to great energy potential at the national level, it continues to be a challenge for Ecuador today.