Spanish businesses rising to the challenge of circular economy creation

From the creation of new flavours and aromas from waste by-products to maximising water use, Spanish companies are rising to the challenge to deliver on the EU’s circular economy plan in a number of innovative ways. EURACTIV’s partner EFEAGRO reports. Research investigating how best to maximise the life cycle of products, as part of the European Commission’s circular economy plan, has yielded some promising results. In Spain, sources from the Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (FIAB) told EFEAGRO that “a lot of investment is being made to take advantage of by-products from the food industry to be used as raw material for other industrial processes.”

Matarromera Wineries has worked for more than a decade on preserving and promoting “orujos”, products that, after pressing for wine, are rich in polyphenols, compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Matarromera ‘s head of environment, María Sevillano, says they can then use the leftover products both in cosmetics and as a high-quality ingredient. “We obtain a powdered extract that we have integrated into our cosmetics and use it as a ‘haute cuisine’ type of ingredient,” since it can be incorporated into dishes to “reduce the salt content and enhance certain flavours,” Sevillano stressed.

The director of Innovation of the Technological Agrarian Institute of Castilla y León (ITACyL), Cristina León, points out that it is necessary to maximise the use of resources as much as possible to increase profitability, but warned that “many novel processes and technologies have a high cost”. Castilla y León (northwest Spain) has put in place several initiatives to take advantage of chestnut, potato, whey, wheat bran and oat waste. This Spanish autonomous community last year invested €2.6 million on the agri-food bioeconomy. “A lot of research needs to be done,” said León, adding that “we have looked for alternatives with bioprocesses to obtain products that we previously made from oil because it was easier and cheaper.”

Source: Euractiv