Beatriz Quintana and Virginia Fuentes Flank Carlos Niño

The city of Burgos has launched a pilot program called Hogares Circulares (Circular Homes), designed to reduce domestic waste and transform consumption habits among local residents. The initiative, led by the Fundación Oxígeno and the company Cultura Circular with the support of the Burgos City Council, aims to recruit 50 families to act as embajadores de la sostenibilidad (sustainability ambassadors) within the city.

The program is centered in the San Juan Bautista neighborhood, which serves as the epicenter of the project. While the organizers intend for at least 50% of the participants to come from this specific area, the call for applications is open to residents from any part of the city.

Objectives and Waste Reduction Targets

The primary goal of the Hogares Circulares project is to achieve a measurable decrease in the amount of waste generated at home. Specifically, the program aspires to reduce domestic waste by between 15% and 20% for the participating families.

According to Carlos Niño, the Councilor for the Environment, the initiative is intended to be a practical policy oriented toward results rather than a simple declaration of intent. The program seeks to implement concrete actions that improve the lives of residents while advancing the city’s goals of becoming more environmentally respectful.

Virginia Fuentes and Beatriz Quintana, the managers responsible for the initiative, have emphasized that the focus is not merely on improving recycling methods. Instead, the program aims to address the root cause of waste by encouraging participants to buy with head to prevent food waste and eliminate the use of single-use plastics.

Methodology and Implementation

To ensure the changes are sustainable and based on evidence, the program utilizes a data-driven approach. Before beginning the transformation process, each participating family must complete a self-diagnosis to determine the exact amount of waste they generate on a weekly basis.

The program moves beyond theoretical instruction, avoiding what the organizers describe as just another talk. The strategy involves direct intervention at the source of waste generation through practical workshops and the actual weighing of generated trash to track progress.

By providing training and advisory services to the 50 families, the organizers hope to create a model for sustainable living that can be replicated. The focus remains on long-term behavioral changes in domestic consumption habits to ensure that the reduction in waste is maintained over time.

Organizational Collaboration

The project is the result of a collaboration between three primary entities:

• Fundación Oxígeno: Represented by Virginia Fuentes.
• Cultura Circular: Represented by Beatriz Quintana.
• Ayuntamiento de Burgos: Represented by the Department of the Environment and Councilor Carlos Niño.

The initiative was formally presented on April 6, 2026, as a pilot test to evaluate the effectiveness of direct domestic intervention in reducing the city’s overall environmental footprint.