The Deputy of Environment José Ignacio Asensio and the Director of the School of Engineers of the University of Navarra, Raúl Antón, have signed a partnership agreement in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa to investigate opportunities for collaboration between companies in Gipuzkoa, taking advantage of the waste generated as resources and raw materials. The study will lay the groundwork instructions to create a market for waste destined to manufacture raw materials that will take shape through the "Circular Market" application. This web platform will facilitate the exchange of waste as resource, generating demand and supply, and contributing to the closing of resource cycles by transforming waste into new raw materials. The study will be carried out by the department of Industrial Organization of Tecnun and financed by the department of Environment of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, which will provide 20,000 euros.

Likewise, possible synergies will also be detected at development of circular initiatives and the characteristics, criteria and needs of the participating companies will be analyzed. The platform's functionalities include a area for the exchange of products and by-products between companies, as well as to facilitate the rental, purchase or sale of machinery and spare parts to promote reuse. It will also have a area to facilitate the contact of companies interested in sharing facilities or services. It will also have a space for companies to propose collaboration projects oriented to circular Economics and, finally, it will have a functionality for the publication of success stories, new practices and examples of circular Economics .

The signed agreement establishes that the following tasks will be carried out at framework : analysis of the legal aspects affecting the platform; implementation of the platform; test phase with several companies to detect possible incidents; a workshop to train companies in the use of the platform and show its benefits; feeding the platform with the resources and needs of the companies; use of the platform and improvements if necessary; analysis of the data obtained through the platform and preparation of the report of results and their dissemination.

Asensio explained that it is necessary to move towards a model circular Economics consisting of three fundamental aspects: an environmental axis, sustainability and respect for the planet, which is a model of lower greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable production and manufacturing proximity; a social axis for those countries, territories and cities that are strategically positioned in the promotion of circular Economics get to be an engine of employment; and finally, an economic axis based on the circular Economics emerging as an opportunity for growth for our companies and industries. In this regard, the regional responsible has stated that "the circular Economics plays a key role in the fight against climate change. We must join forces and transform waste and climate change into an opportunity to create wealth and employment in a more sustainable Gipuzkoa".

Tecnun has been working for some time on the idea of informing and promoting the transition of companies from a linear economic model to a circular one and, in this sense, it is working on the integration of small and medium-sized companies in the circular Economics . For its part, the Environment department of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa is moving in the direction of improving the environment and promote the circular Economics through various actions such as the creation of the recycling cluster GK Recycling or the sustainable fashion cluster GK Green Fashion.