- The approved initiatives seek to reduce the environmental impacts of plastic production and consumption and improve waste management, as well as R+D for eco-design and digitalisation to innovate in terms of processes and organisation
- The beneficiary companies will receive aid of up to 8.7 million per project
The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has published a new resolution corresponding to the call for subsidies to promote the circular economy in the plastics sector, within the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) of Circular Economy, within the framework of the Recovery Plan, Transformation and Resilience (PRTR). The 115 beneficiary projects will receive aid for an amount of more than 150 million, which will manage to mobilise up to 473 million of investment, between public and private funds.
It is worth noting the great demand that the call has had in the sector, with a high number of requests, which has caused the initially planned endowment, which was 97.5 million, to be increased.
Of the 201 applications received, 115 projects have been favourably resolved (six of them are carried out by groups that bring together 12 companies). In terms of their nature, 41.73% are led by SMEs (21.73% by small companies and 20% by medium-sized companies).
In total, 121 companies that stand out for their commitment to circularity have benefited, which will receive aid ranging from 100,000 euros to 8.7 million euros per project. The projects must be completed by October 31, 2027.
BREAKDOWN BY CATEGORY
The projects that group together the increase in the level of environmental protection of the beneficiaries (environmental improvements that reduce the impacts of their products or involve a decrease in the generation or better management of their own waste) have 58 beneficiary projects and 57.09 million in aid, revealing that reducing the extraction and consumption of virgin raw materials, The generation of waste, the emission of microplastics or promoting the use of polymers and materials with lower environmental impacts is one of the great concerns of companies.
The category of improvement in the management of waste from third parties, which presents 41 projects, has a grant of 87.66 million, which highlights the role that the implementation of innovative technologies that promote the recovery of secondary raw materials in the plastics sector is acquiring.
Along these lines, it also highlights that among the beneficiaries there are 12 projects to promote research and development for ecodesign (3.05 million) and four digitalisation projects to innovate in terms of processes and organisation that have an impact on greater circularity (2.56 million).
TYPE OF PROJECTS
Among the beneficiary projects, projects for the productive improvement of the process of joining plastic components in the automotive field stand out; the reduction of the consumption of virgin raw materials and the increase in the efficiency of the use of materials; the adaptation of packaging lines to be able to use recycled plastic; the reduction of the consumption of virgin raw materials through the reuse of pre- and post-consumer plastic waste; the recycling and recovery of plastic waste; new sustainable packaging solutions for the logistics industry; the development of integrated plastic waste management platforms based on the optimisation and digitalisation of plastic recycling plants for maximum product traceability; or the manufacture of adult diapers with a lower content of non-biodegradable materials and waste reduction.
The proposed projects are spread over 14 autonomous communities: Andalusia, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Community of Madrid, Autonomous Community of Navarre, Valencian Community, Extremadura, Galicia, Basque Country, Principality of Asturias and Region of Murcia. In Catalonia, the project with the largest budget (41 million) between public and private funds will be developed.
PERTE OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The Circular Economy PERTE, financed through the Next GenerationEU funds, aligned with the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy and European strategies in the field, has aid worth 492 million, with which it is expected to mobilise resources of more than 1,200 million during its execution.
The plastic materials sector in Spain is of high importance. Proof of this is the turnover of the plastics manufacturing subsector in primary forms, which rises slightly above 17% of the total of the chemical industry.
Plastic is, therefore, a relevant material for our economy, which plays an important role in many processes and sectors such as food or health, but which we often use improperly, superfluously and decoupled from its characteristics and which entails a great environmental impact. About two-thirds of the world’s plastics production is used for short-life cycle products, and one-third of plastic is disposable plastic.
Unsustainable models of plastic production and consumption, anchored in the unsustainable linear economy, and the lack of proper management of its waste have made plastic pollution one of the environmental challenges of our time.
CURBING PLASTIC POLLUTION
According to the IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), since 1980 plastic pollution has increased 10-fold in the ocean. It already constitutes more than 80% of marine litter. This especially affects ecosystems and endangered species such as sea turtles (86% affected) and marine mammals and birds (43% and 44% respectively), but also economic sectors such as fishing or tourism, and has effects on our health through microplastics.
The prevention, eco-design, reuse and recycling of materials and the use of secondary raw materials minimise the environmental impacts of resource extraction and waste generation, but the incorporation of these strategies is not consolidated at a steady pace and is limited by a fragmented market, not unrelated to the behaviour of the prices of virgin raw materials. in a context of the use of plastic for functions unrelated to the characteristics of the material and the abuse of the superfluous use of plastic.
Added to this are the costs of collecting, treating and managing plastics, the low presence of reuse, the limited availability of recycled plastic polymers and the lack of available technologies for the recovery of certain polymers, additives or multilayer products. On the other hand, the small size of most companies hinders innovation, the ability to adapt production to new circular models, and the professionalization of management.
Therefore, aid of this type is necessary to encourage the transformation of the sector towards a sustainable and circular model, with special emphasis on reducing resource extraction and waste generation and increasing reuse and recycling rates.
PROMOTING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES
This call for the Circular Economy PERTE seeks to direct the real, direct, coordinated effort in accordance with the European Strategy for Plastics in a circular economy, under eco-design parameters that, among others, reduce the presence of additives with substances of concern, avoid the unintentional release of microplastics, promote prevention, reuse, recycling and material recovery, and promote circular models.
Likewise, the call includes the acquisition of digital tools with the purpose, for example, of incorporating watermarks to establish closed cycles for food-grade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the use of artificial vision for the separation of silicones or support for closed-loop technologies and stock control to promote reuse and reverse logistics.
The call is included in investment C12. I5 “Subsidy scheme in support of the circular economy” of Component 12 “Spain’s Industrial Policy 2030”, of the second phase of the RTRP of the Government of Spain, in accordance with the Addendum approved by the European Commission, on 2 October 2023, and ratified by the Council of Finance Ministers of the European Union on 16 October 2023.
