The President of the Maresme Waste Consortium and Mayor of Mataró, David Bote, takes part in the Forum ‘The future of the planet begins with the circular economy’, organised by El Periódico
The Maresme wants to underline its role as a benchmark for the circular economy in Catalonia and Spain, and will do so with the implementation of a new circular economy park to be located in Mataró. This was explained by the President of the Maresme Waste Consortium and Mayor of Mataró, David Bote, during a day of reflection and debate on the challenge of sustainability, held on Wednesday 20 April at the Sant Pau Modernist Building.
“In Mataró we have long been ahead of the curve when it comes to facing the challenges we have as a society”, said Bote, who explained: “We started out as pioneers in waste treatment and now we will also be pioneers with the Mataró Maresme Circular Park, a project that seeks to make both industry and citizenship embrace the circular economy”.
The conference, with the slogan “The future of the planet begins with the circular economy”, was organised by El Periódico and Prensa Ibérica and was attended by the Catalan Minister for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Teresa Jordà, as well as the director of the Catalan Waste Agency, Isaac Peraire, and the president delegate of the Climate Action Area of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Xesco Gomar.
Reducing the waste of raw materials
“What we are doing today cannot put tomorrow’s resources at risk”, stressed Sònia Llorens, director of the Chair of Circular Economy of the TecnoCampus, who opened the forum with an informative talk in which she explained to the attendees what the circular economy consists of and what advantages it offers with respect to the current economic model. “The circular economy is an economic concept that aims to produce goods and services while reducing the consumption and waste of raw materials, water and energy sources”, summarised Llorens.
The central part of the event revolved around two round tables. The first, led by institutions and municipal entities such as the President of the Maresme Waste Consortium and Mayor of Mataró, David Bote, addressed the challenge of waste management.
“We have to move towards the change of paradigm of the circular economy and zero waste, and for this the symbiosis of work between administrations is key,” said Isaac Peraire, who stressed: “Mataró is a benchmark city in this regard.
Carles Salesa: “We want to influence the prevention and reuse of waste”
The second round table, which gave voice to the director of the Maresme Waste Consortium, Carles Salesa, and other business representatives, focused on circular economy projects that have emerged in recent years and which are helping to reduce excess waste.
“Five years ago we decided to make a strategic and paradigm shift,” explained Salesa, who continued: “Instead of focusing only on waste treatment and recovery, we also want to influence waste prevention and reuse. To this end, the Maresme Waste Consortium, which serves a million inhabitants (in the entire Maresme region and also in Vallès Oriental), is promoting the Mataró Maresme Circular Park, a pioneering project in Europe where waste will be converted into new resources.
The future Park will bring together industry, citizens, academia and public administration in order to promote the circular economy in all areas and thus ensure a much more responsible future.
The mayor of Mataró and president of the Consorci de Residus del Maresme, David Bote, during the conference “The future of the planet begins with the circular economy”, moderated by the journalist Valentina Raffio / Joan Cortadellas
