Introduction

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and its United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Government of the Dominican Republic are organizing the Regional Technical Workshop on Strengthening Integrated Solid Waste Management Policies and the Circular Economy, which will take place from March 10 to 12, 2026 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The transition to circularity in the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) can effectively contribute to sustainable development, but it requires transformative changes in production and consumption systems, along with the adoption of mechanisms to achieve this. To this end, it is essential to overcome various factors that hinder the advancement of the circular economy, such as the development of roadmaps, the lack of metrics, the absence of instruments and regulatory issues, and the promotion of governance and collaboration among stakeholders.

Therefore, in addition to harmonizing concepts, it is increasingly important to identify gaps and opportunities, and to design policies that guide society toward an increasingly circular future, in support of the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/77/161, adopted in 2022, on zero waste. In this regard, this activity seeks to strengthen regional capacities for evidence-based policymaking and planning, in order to boost regional progress in waste management and the circular economy.

However, challenges remain in policy implementation at both the national and local levels, along with a lack of data to monitor and measure progress on waste and circularity. This lack of data and knowledge is a key obstacle to the effective implementation of targeted policies that would enable greater resource circularity.

In this context, the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), in coordination with UNEP (GGKP) and the Statistics Division of DESA, has developed a Waste Management and Circular Economy Policy Support System (WMPSS) that can address data gaps, technological needs and capacity deficiencies to achieve resource circularity in solid waste management.

The Dominican Republic, as host country of the upcoming workshop, has made significant progress toward a circular economy. In 2025, the General Law on Integrated Management and Co-processing of Solid Waste (No. 225-20, now 98-25) was strengthened as the legislative framework for the country's transition to a circular economy, moving away from linear "take, make, and dispose" practices. Also in 2025, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, in collaboration with United Nations partners, introduced a Categorization System for Financing Circular Economy Projects and organized a Circular Economy Forum in November of that year. As a framework project for the region, the Dominican Republic is also implementing the Duquesa Landfill Technical Closure Project. This project will provide a case study on the transition from a traditional final disposal model to an integrated waste management approach, aligned with circular economy principles, which will also be presented at the regional workshop.

Workshop Objectives

The proposed workshop aims to assess progress and challenges in integrated waste management and the circular economy among participating countries and to jointly define areas for continued cooperation and support. This workshop builds on a regional collaboration initiated through a regional dialogue in 2024, as well as subsequent regional meetings, both online and in person, including technical workshops at the 2025 World Circular Economy Forum in São Paulo, Brazil.

This workshop also aims to advance the implementation of:

• Review and follow up on the Circular Economy Agenda developed with the countries during a regional workshop held in São Paulo, Brazil, in May 2025.
• Implement the Waste Management and Circular Economy Policy Support System (WMPSS), an online self-assessment tool jointly developed by UNOSD and the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP). This tool enables users to comprehensively assess progress in waste management (including governance, capacity building, financing, monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and system status) and receive a confidential country report with visualizations and customized recommendations using artificial intelligence. The platform allows for annual updates to track progress, strengthens evidence-based policymaking, and facilitates regional cooperation and peer learning through workshops.
• This meeting will analyze progress in national circular economy strategies and indicators associated with circular economy policies developed by ECLAC within the framework of the technical assistance the Commission provides to countries in support of national circularity roadmaps and strategies. Regulatory instruments, such as regulations for single-use plastics, will also be discussed.
• Strengthening the quality, availability, and use of information on solid waste management and the circular economy through the Solid Waste and Circular Economy Hub, promoted by the IDB. The Hub helps close quantitative data gaps through the use of digital tools and new technologies, promotes methodological harmonization, the integration of solid waste management into official statistics, and the exchange of best practices, supporting decision-making, public policies, and the identification of evidence-based investments.
• In the case of the Dominican Republic, this event is linked to the La Duquesa Landfill Technical Closure Project, which represents a historic transition from the traditional final disposal model to an integrated waste management approach aligned with the principles of the circular economy. This will be a practical model explored during the workshop.

Main organizers and partners

• United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
  • United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
  • UN DESA Statistics Division
  • United Nations Environment Programme (Green Growth Knowledge Platform) (UNEP/GGKP)
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
  • Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Government of the Dominican Republic
  • K-eco and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of the Republic of Korea
  • German Cooperation GIZ