Raúl Flores, CEO of Prewaste, has more than 15 years of experience in the world of recycling and sustainable waste management. He shares with us his point of view from the Prewaste offices in Plaça Vella, Terrassa.

How do you rate the circular economy from a waste perspective?

It is a critical need, since the idea is that in the future, there will be no waste but just resources in circulation.

What do you think about municipal waste recycling?

I believe much more must be recycled. We are far from the 65% goal set for 2035. Awareness, prevention and the involvement of administration and citizens are very necessary.

And the industry?

Well, it’s a direct cost in the short term, but profitable in the long run. It must invest, innovate and move towards more efficient production processes.

What do you suggest to deal with this scenario both at a municipal and industrial level?

At an industrial level, we help companies to minimize their cost in the generation of waste. At the same time, we have a clear goal that is part of our added value: to try to achieve the goal of zero waste, to generate much less waste that ends up in the landfill. Also, depending on the company and the type of waste, we present real and coherent projects applying circular economy principles.

At a municipal level, we are currently collaborating with Maresme and we are also involved in Symbiosis projects, focused on providing industries and restaurants in the municipalities of the Vallès Occidental region with a service.

We are also preparing projects focused on businesses and municipal waste.

And for Terrassa?

It’s the next step. We have already been working for more than 4-6 months with the rest of the councils. Regarding Terrassa, we have been having very interesting conversations and I am sure we will be able to do important things.

There is a lot of talk about the circular economy and, in your case, you have already mentioned that you prepare projects based on these terms. What exactly are they?

Well, we are a commercial company with several lines of business: consulting, marketing, training and innovation. We apply circular economy to all of them. We make improvement proposals that move towards the circular economy in the consulting part, we offer training on the subject and we have an innovation department that works to generate products that suit the circular economy model.

Regarding the projects, there are all kinds and in different phases, some of them in collaboration with workshops specialized in restoration and design and decoration professionals.

To date, a major problem has been detected with mixed plastic waste. We come across many cases of companies that generate plastic mixtures, which are mostly disposed of in the landfill. We prepare projects where the waste, as long as it meets certain characteristics and volumes, becomes a product that can be useful again for this client. We make waste valuable again.

Not only do we seek to innovate and think of new ways to improve management, but many times it is the client themselves, with the problems they are facing, who enables us to reinvent ourselves.

Plastic is now being demonized. What’s the big deal?

The problem with recycling plastic is that there are many types, because we use it for many different things, and as such we require it to have many different characteristics: to be more or less resistant, transparent or opaque, different colours, flame retardant, hard, soft, flexible, etc. And so some way or another we tend to mix it with other materials which makes recycling processes more complicated, since it must be well segregated before melting. Therefore, the trend should be to go to mono-material products that are 100% recyclable.

Finally, what recommendation do you make to companies and municipalities to improve recycling?

To those in charge of the municipalities, that prevention and recycling should be on their agenda. How to recycle more and better should be thoroughly studied at a local level. To the companies, that they analyse their waste properly since by segregating well you can minimize costs, and that, when in doubt, they should also try to rely on the administration or on specialized companies like ours to implement circular economy projects or simply receive advice with an up-to-date view of possible solutions to their waste management problems.