The DMQ has a Master Plan for Integrated Waste Management (PMGIR) that proposes a management model for "non-hazardous solid waste from households," which highlights the importance of education in waste prevention and minimization. Point #1 of the plan mentions "promoting knowledge of responsible consumption processes among citizens" and point #2, "promoting knowledge of non-hazardous solid waste management processes among citizens".

The PMGIR's goals include a) annual communication on responsible consumption to students (25%) and the adult population (5%), and b) the promotion of bio-stabilized and/or composted organic matter, including self-composting (2% organic matter treated by self-composting until 2025). The main objective of PMGIR is to have educational spaces that develop an integral environmental conscience and a deep practice to the citizenship. The results obtained will be used to share the lessons learned with other DMQ communities, such as the communities surrounding the "El Inga" landfill.

In order to comply with the objectives of the PMGIR, the three axes of the "Quito Free of Waste" program must be incorporated into a physical space, thus facilitating citizen participation and separation at the source. The "Quito Free of Waste" program encourages the development of mechanisms that promote a circular economy and provide a more complete and integral service to citizens, and its three fundamental axes are: (i) recyclable waste, (ii) special domestic waste; and, (iii) organic waste. It is within the framework of the program "Quito Free of Waste - Organic Waste" that EMGIRS-P designed in 2018 the EcoCentro project, located in the Rio Grande Park of the DMQ.

EMGIRS-EP is the metropolitan public company responsible for waste management within the DMQ and is in charge of the transfer, use, treatment and final disposal of solid waste. It is also responsible for promoting and educating citizens about prevention, environmental awareness and recycling. EMGIRS-EP's vision is to be an innovative and self-sustaining company that serves as a national and international reference in the integral management of solid waste, which is why it actively participates in the "Quito Free of Waste" program.

Considering the amount of common solid waste produced daily in the DMQ, the management model proposed by PMGIR and the limited capacity of the current landfill "El Inga", EMGIRS-EP saw the need to seek new, more sustainable models that include the basic principles of integrated waste management, such as prevention and precaution. The transformation of organic waste into bio fertilizer and/or biogas contributes, for example, to the reduction of agrochemicals in food production and the reduction of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. It also helps to successfully manage food products within their life cycle and to manage waste in a sustainable way.

Public institutions and bodies must adopt timely policies and measures that avoid negative environmental impacts. This means that beyond the transformation of organic waste as such, it is necessary to promote environmental education as the main tool to achieve this end. Basic knowledge in waste management and prevention of waste generation (responsible consumption, reduction in generation and self-composting) contributes to a circular economy and sows environmental awareness among citizens. The combination of both factors is what gave life to the EcoCentro project, located in the Rio Grande Park of the DMQ.

EcoCentro has nine physical spaces, approximately 800 m2, for demonstration, continuous training, and courses designed specifically for citizens on different topics, such as worm culture management and home composting, home bio digestion, adequate use of greenhouse fertilizer, and urban organic nursery and garden. It also has a space to demonstrate the other two axes of the "Quito Free of Waste" program, thus forming an integrated system with various appropriate technologies that come together to demonstrate in a didactic way the valorisation of waste, the sustainable production of energy, water and organic food, and the protection of the environment.

EcoCentro has become a new practice that fuses the idea of a healthy life with the cultivation of healthy food, responsible consumption, and the sustainable management of productive resources; contemplating landscape, urban and environmental services provided by sustainable agricultural activities.

To promote environmental awareness and education, EMGIRS-EP has developed a "Didactic Guide for Home Composting". This document is delivered via email to all visitors of the EcoCentro and is promoted through EMGIRS-EP's social networks and virtual media. EMGIRS-E communication strategy is to motivate citizens to participate in environmental activities, share photos of their home composting and strengthen the exchange of good environmental practices.

Often, when one hears about sustainable development goals, promoting the circular economy and reducing the carbon footprint gives the impression that these are issues that belong only to institutions or companies. However, our responsibility as citizens goes beyond putting waste in the appropriate container. Thus, the EcoCentro establishes an educational alternative to teach and learn about the management of organic waste, its use and in the end, to be part of an organic production chain in the DMQ (network of urban gardens).

The EcoCentro project in the Rio Grande Park has proven to be an adequate solution for the diversion of organic waste and its respective use, which was born through the awareness and recycling culture of the citizens. Although home composting is not very common in Ecuador, it could have a high impact on reducing the amount of waste delivered to dumps or sanitary landfills, since the vast majority can be easily treated in home composting. Considering the importance of public awareness and the great impact of the DMQ on food security, EMGIRS-EP is planning a second EcoCentro for northern Quito for the year 2021.

The design of the EcoCentro and the joint work with academia, the food bank and the private sector, beyond guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of the project, has served to explore opportunities and to develop a prototype that can be implemented by other zonal administrations or cantons in the province; with the appropriate adaptations and improvements.