Every May 17, World Recycling Day is commemorated, a date promoted by UNESCO that highlights the importance of adopting responsible habits such as reducing consumption, reusing products and recycling waste. This anniversary serves as a reminder that proper management of resources and waste not only contributes to the well-being of the planet, but is also key to ensuring a more sustainable future.

The current “throwaway” economic model has accelerated the deterioration of the natural environment. The UN report World Resources Outlook underlines that the extraction and treatment of raw materials is one of the main causes of the environmental crisis: it contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, causes massive biodiversity loss and generates high levels of pollution.

As a result, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), thousands of species are in danger and, if our production and consumption patterns do not change, the number could multiply rapidly. International reports such as the one published by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) already warn of the risk of extinction of up to one million species in the coming decades if urgent action is not taken.

In this context, it is urgent to bet on an alternative model. The circular economy represents an effective way to reduce the environmental impact of our activities. It is based on keeping resources in use for as long as possible, extending the useful life of products, minimising waste and committing to sustainable design from the outset. This transformation not only favors the protection of ecosystems, but also opens the door to a more resilient, equitable economy that is less dependent on finite resources.

Different studies such as The Nature Imperative: How the circular economy tackles biodiversity loss, by the Ellen McArthur Foundation, show that moving towards a circular economy is not only desirable, but essential to stop the loss of biodiversity and build a model that prioritizes efficiency, innovation and respect for the natural environment.

COMMITMENT TO RECYCLING

To contribute to the change towards a new model of production and consumption, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has launched four calls for grants that have a total endowment of more than 390 million euros for the promotion of the circular economy in the private sector. within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP) financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

Firstly, the 2022 call for subsidies to promote the circular economy in companies, which has already been resolved, with the Biodiversity Foundation acting as a collaborating entity, approved a total of 102 projects focused on improving waste management, reducing the consumption of raw materials, digitalisation and eco-design.

The second call, aimed at the textile, fashion and clothing and footwear sectors, seeks to support initiatives that contribute to reducing the presence of hazardous substances in fabrics, promoting their durability and promoting their reuse; while the third line of aid, aimed at the plastics sector, aims to prevent the use of materials, reduce the presence of additives with polluting substances, avoid the unintentional release of microplastics, and promote recycling, as well as the material recovery of waste.

Finally, the call for grants to promote the circular economy for 2024, in which the Biodiversity Foundation also acts as a collaborating entity, aims to promote the sustainability and circularity of business processes by improving the competitiveness and innovation of the industrial fabric.

With initiatives like these, recycling is consolidated as a daily action with enormous transformative potential. Committing to a circular economy is not only an environmental decision, but also an opportunity to promote fairer, more inclusive and lasting development.