In just two and a half years of existence, the Barcelona startup Recovo, a platform on which fashion brands buy and sell fabrics and threads left over from previous collections, has managed to attract more than 773 clients without having yet left the European Union. Now the co-founders aim to take their anti-textile waste portal to the rest of the world thanks to a million euro round that they have just closed.
Recovo's case is particularly significant. Firstly, it may be an initiative aimed at the textile sector - one of the most polluting and waste-generating - and, secondly, because it is a private, for-profit company. The majority of platforms dedicated to the purchase and sale of by-products, waste and secondary raw materials are public initiatives. This is the case of Residu Recurs, which is behind the General Council of the Official Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Catalonia and the Waste Agency of Catalonia.
The construction sector is an example of how the use of byproducts or waste as new raw materials is being normalized. “Construction and demolition waste, which accounts for more than a third of the total waste generated in Catalonia, is reaching very high recycling levels, although there is still much to do,” says Isaac Peraire Soler, director of the Waste Agency of Catalonia. Specifically, in 2022, 5.96 million tons of construction waste were generated in Catalonia, of which 3.85 million tons were destined for recycling plants (64.5%). The public-private company Runes de la Construcció (GRC) is in charge of transforming waste concrete and ceramic materials into recycled aggregates, which are used as road bases, in filling ditches or on rural roads.
Urban waste, which is managed through channels other than industrial or construction, is also reused as new raw materials. With selective collection rates of 45.3% (more than 1.7 million tons), the paper, glass or plastic packaging that is selectively collected is reused to produce new paper, glass and plastic.
But the fraction that currently arouses the most interest is the organic fraction. Its use for the generation of biogas was one of the star topics of the II Biogas Forum of Catalonia, organized by the Bioenergy Cluster of Catalonia at the end of September. At the meeting, the case of the BioEnergy Vallès Oriental project was announced, the plant that manages the organic fraction of Vallès Oriental, Maresme and some municipalities of Moianès.
“Currently we have the capacity to treat 54,000 tons, but with the planned investments we will be able to treat up to 100,000 tons,” indicates Vanessa Abad, director of the Tractament area of the Vallès Oriental Waste Management Consortium. Thanks to the works underway, the plant will produce biogas for thermal use, for the generation of electricity, as fuel for vehicles and for the production of compost.
Bulky waste also has a second life in the industry. This is the case of wood from old furniture, for example, which is used to make boards or as fuel for industrial ovens, among other uses.
