June 19, 2017

The 5th Relagres Seminar ends with a commitment to continue working in collaboration for the benefit of the planet

by MaresmeCircular in Consortium, Uncategorized

Over two days, more than 250 public decision-makers, managers and other key figures in waste management from different countries in Latin America and Europe have shared experiences and knowledge in Mataró (Barcelona)

A visit to the Maresme Integral Centre for Waste Recovery, at the Maresme Consortium for Municipal Solid Waste Treatment, was the climax to the fifth edition of the Relagres Seminar, which was held at the Mataró Tecnocampus on the 12th and 13th June. In total, more than 250 public officials, managers and other significant figures in waste management from different Latin American and European countries participated in presentations and networking sessions under the heading “Waste management in Latin America: Situation, challenges, opportunities and public-private collaboration”.

In his final speech, the Director of the Generalitat’s Catalan Waste Agency, Josep Maria Tost, specified that “from Catalonia we are willing to share what we have learnt from both our successes and failures. Together we have to guarantee that this planet, which is running out of natural resources, is left in the best possible condition for future generations. For this reason, we must collaborate”.

Meanwhile, the vice president of the Relagres Network, president of the Maresme Consortium for Municipal Solid Waste Treatment, and mayor of Mataró, David Bote, concluded that “daily life complicates everything and means that we don’t dedicate enough time to the really important problems. In the field of waste this also happens. Walls and mountains should be climbed progressively, and not left until the last minute, when the scale of the inevitable problem is obvious. I hope that what we have heard during these two days helps us continue climbing this mountain to achieve the objective of managing waste better, for the good of the planet”.

Among the speakers that have participated in this edition of the Relagres Seminar, organisations of global relevance stand out, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), the European Commission and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), as well as other major players in the waste management field of Latin America and Europe.

After the International Seminar RELAGRES was held outside Latin America for the first time, in the RELAGRES General Assembly, which took place on Monday 12th in the afternoon, the venues for the next Seminars for the Network were agreed: La Paz in 2018, Montevideo in 2019, Panama City in 2020, and possibly Korea in 2021.

The entire seminar was broadcast live, streamed, on the official website www.seminariorelagres2017.org. At this site all the seminar videos of the speakers and conclusions can be accessed.