- Last year, the company invested 10.49 million euros in 43 innovation projects.
- As part of its strategy to reduce emissions, it has a 32% ecological fleet.
Urbaser, a global leader in environmental management, continues with its purpose of being a strategic partner in circular economy solutions, a commitment that is reflected in the more than 2,885 GWh of energy it has managed to generate from waste, an amount sufficient to supply a city like Pamplona for more than two years.
This data, included in the publication of its Sustainability Report 2021, shows its commitment to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the search for innovative solutions to transform waste into resources.
In this sense, the energy recovery of urban waste that cannot be recycled, i.e. the transformation of waste into electricity, steam or heat for domestic or industrial use, has become an efficient and viable energy alternative.
Currently, the energy generated in Europe through the treatment of non-recyclable waste represents some 40,000 GWh of electricity used by 18 million citizens, mainly in Eastern European cities; a trend that is still pending in Spain and that Urbaser seeks to promote through an even more responsible and sustainable value chain by activating energy recovery processes (biogas, valorization and biomass).
As Laura Galindo, Urbaser’s Director of Sustainability and Communication, points out, “we are firmly convinced that the circular economy must be placed at the center of decision making in order to face the challenges presented by urban environments. Our company promotes sustainability through a second life for waste, which we prefer to call resources, thus matching our progress with respect for the limits of a planet that has set off its alarm bells.
Sustainable mobility in the provision of urban services
One of the key elements of sustainable cities is the establishment of strategic alliances to move towards cleaner mobility options and combat climate change. For this reason, the company already has 32% of its fleet in the more than 20 countries in which it operates, with a clear commitment to more sustainable mobility.
Innovation Management
With the aim of strengthening this area, last year the company invested 10.49 million euros, with 43 projects under development. Through joint actions such as iCareplast, which seeks to obtain high value-added chemical products from plastic waste, or Circular Biocarbon, led by Urbaser in collaboration with eleven partners and five European countries and which aims to build the first biorefinery for the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and sewage sludge in Europe.30
Social commitment
Aware of the role it plays in the progress of communities, Urbaser works in the local context, in alliance with entities in the social sector, to improve the quality of life of people in the 21 countries in which it operates.
In this sense, the company focuses mainly on two fronts that it considers crucial to help build a fairer and more caring society; the fight against gender violence, and the promotion of social and labor integration of groups in vulnerable situations and at risk of social exclusion.
You can read the Sustainability Report 2021 at the following link: https://www.urbaser.com/2021-sustainability-report.pdf
