• ESGREM, Supra-municipal Entities for the Management of Municipal Waste, is a working group coordinated by the Environmental Forum Foundation and made up of consortia, municipalities, island councils, county councils and metropolitan areas from all over Spain

• The group is currently made up of 46 entities from the whole of Spain, serving more than 21 million citizens

Maresme Circular has joined the ESGREM (Supra-municipal Entities for the Management of Municipal Waste) working group together with forty other supra-municipal entities from all over Spain, responsible for the management of municipal waste.

Coordinated by the Environmental Forum Foundation, ESGREM’s fundamental mission is to accelerate the transition towards sustainable management of municipal resources with circularity criteria and thus contribute more efficiently to climate protection and all the European objectives linked to this sector.

The 46 members of ESGREM serve more than 21 million citizens throughout Spain and seek to strengthen and formalise the cooperation and coordination of its members by sharing the knowledge and experience accumulated in waste management in order to accelerate the path towards sustainability in their sector.

The birth of ESGREM

A few years ago, some public bodies in the field of municipal waste management in Catalonia set up an informal discussion group to exchange opinions and debate criteria for action.

In view of their diagnosis, it became clear that supra-municipal entities are in a privileged position to participate in the debate and to contribute effective proposals and solutions. This led to the decision to set up and extend the group to the Spanish sphere, giving rise to the current ESGREM.

The strategic lines of its work are:

– Coordinate greater territorial and inter-territorial collaboration to achieve operational synergies as well as in the application of promotion and control instruments.

– To share, elaborate and disseminate experiences and knowledge through publications, conferences, congresses, etc.

– To represent the local sphere in order to channel opinions, positions and actions before the competent public administrations both in Spain and in the European Union.

– To assist local entities to increase service levels in terms of circular economy and public health, particularly in the management of municipal waste and health care waste.

– To complement communication to the public towards co-responsibility in the sustainable management of municipal waste.

Image of the Maresme Integrated Waste Recovery Centre / Marga Cruz