David de los Ríos

"In Colombia alone, the paper industry produces 300,000 tons of ""waste"" paper sludge a year. To date, the final destination of this waste has been sanitary landfills despite the efforts of many research projects of universities throughout the world. This generates a huge amount of pollution and involves a huge economic cost for the Colombian paper industry, which approximately amounts to 14.6 billion pesos a year.

To resolve this economic and environmental problem caused by the paper production process worldwide, David has created a process whereby this waste can be transformed into ecological building materials. The Eco-blocks produced by David are suitable for use in residential units and buildings and are more resistant to compression, lighter and they also provide greater thermal and acoustic insulation at a cheaper price than conventional clay brick.

Through Green Works Company, this innovative young man has successfully marketed the Eco-blocks. This company, established and managed by David, provides paper companies with a technology that they can easily implement in their production processes to reduce waste and at the same time improve the sustainability of the building industry. As they reduce costs, Eco-block can also incentivize the building of social housing.

As a successful entrepreneur, David has been awarded a number of prizes, including the Ventures Prize for the best business Plan, the Exporting Capacity Prize of Proexport and recognition of the Chamber of Commerce of Pereira.