The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment awards 12 Spanish companies for their commitment to sustainable development and environmental performance

His Majesty the King today presided over the ceremony of the European Business Awards for the Environment, in its Spanish Section, which in this 2017/2018 edition is awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation. This awards ceremony was held to coincide with World Environment Day, which this year is celebrated under the slogan “A Planet #WithoutPlasticPollution”. A campaign that urges governments, industry, communities and individuals to come together to urgently reduce the production and overuse of disposable plastics that pollute our oceans, harm marine life and threaten human health. In this regard, the Council of Ministers recently approved the new Royal Decree to reduce the consumption of plastic bags, which will prohibit the free distribution of lightweight plastic bags, except for compostable ones. Spain is adapting to EU legislation to incorporate the transposition of the Directive on packaging and packaging waste of the European Plastics Strategy through a Spanish Circular Economy Strategy. The awards went to 12 Spanish companies that have demonstrated a firm commitment to sustainable development, that stand out for their environmental performance and that provide solutions to these issues. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AWARD-WINNING COMPANIES The acting Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment, Isabel García Tejerina, has expressed her satisfaction with the results achieved in this edition of the awards, to which 78 companies have presented their initiatives aimed at reducing the environmental impact of their activities. The awards recognize companies that have excelled in improving their environmental performance through sustainable innovations in management, products and services, processes, or activities compatible with biodiversity. “These awards are already a benchmark of prestige for the Spanish business world, as well as a source of pride and another example of the strength of the Spain brand also in environmental matters,” he stressed. His Majesty the King, who presented the awards, congratulated the companies for “promoting new business strategies and for committing to a new business approach in which the environment plays a leading role”. To all of them, he added, “I invite them to play their role as ambassadors of the environment among the Spanish business community, being a reference and source of inspiration for many other companies in our environment”. 78 CANDIDATES FOR FOUR CATEGORIES The call for the 2017-2018 edition of the awards, whose jury was composed of 11 experts in sustainability and business, included four main categories and one special category: management for sustainable development; product and/or service for sustainable development; process for sustainable development; international business cooperation for sustainable development. In addition, all companies were eligible for the special category “Business and Biodiversity” through any of the four main categories. In this edition, 78 applications were submitted. All of them represent a wide range of activity sectors of the Spanish economy, such as energy, food, industry, services and consumption, among others. There is also an important representation of companies providing innovative solutions for the circular economy. After its evaluation, the jury valued the high level of innovation and technological development of the initiatives presented in the different categories of the competition, which recognize business management initiatives for sustainable development, innovative products and services, as well as business processes and projects that promote sustainable development. Initiatives that demonstrate economic activity compatible with biodiversity conservation also stand out. AWARDS AND ACCESITS In the Management for Sustainable Development category, Iberdrola was awarded as a large company for its strategic decision in the energy transition towards decarbonization, involving all levels of the organization and all its suppliers. The SME awarded in this category is A&B Laboratorios de Biotecnología, for its continued commitment to leadership in environmental innovation integrated into its business model, for being the first Spanish company certified in eco-design and for business growth based on its environmental management system. In this first category, Consum S. Coop. V. The jury valued its environmental management, which integrates multiple stakeholders with a great capacity to influence consumers through awareness-raising. In the second category, Product/Service for Sustainable Development, Plastic Repair System 2011 S.L. won first prize for implementing a technology representative of the circular economy that allows the reuse of plastics from repairs. In this category, two runners-up prizes were awarded to UTE Cirtec, which uses waste tires in road asphalt, reducing the use of raw materials and reducing waste generation, and Sistemas Urbanos Drenaje Sostenible S.L., which supports energy efficiency and water management in cities. In the category Process for Sustainable Development, the company Energy Revival S.L. has been awarded for its innovative solution towards an extension of battery life with easy replicability and a growing market. EKOLBER, Ingeniería del Caucho y Plástico de Colágeno S.L. and EKONEK, Innovación en Valoración de Subproductos, S.L. have obtained two runner-up prizes for generating a waste valorization process incubated from innovation in vocational training classrooms, which contributes to the circular economy in biocompatible, biodegradable and even edible products in the case of EKOLBER; and for presenting an improved protein drying process to treat food by-products, in the case of EKONEK. In the Business and Biodiversity category, first prize went to Suez Spain for an innovative project to transform water treatment plants into green infrastructures, supporting actions in favor of biodiversity. LafargeHolcim received a runner-up prize in this category. The jury valued its commitment to Net Positive Impact in quarries through participatory management models and innovative experiences that favor biodiversity and the increase of natural capital. Red Eléctrica de España also received a runner-up prize for its commitment to innovation in activities to mitigate the impact of business activity on biodiversity, designing a successful methodology for the restoration of Posidonia oceanica meadows, a priority habitat in the Natura 2000 Network, and an example of science-business collaboration. VIENNA, STAGE FOR THE EUROPEAN FINAL The winning companies in the Spanish Section will enter the European final, competing with the other winning companies in other European Union member states and candidate countries. The winners of this final will be announced on November 14 in Vienna (Austria). The European Business Awards for the Environment of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment have been awarded since 1987 to recognize companies that stand out for their environmental performance.