The director of the Maresme Consortium for Municipal Solid Waste Management, Carles Salesa, participated last Thursday 24th May, in the II Conference on waste management and the circular economy, in Murcia. Specifically, Salesa gave a talk entitled \u201cWaste-to- energy of the refuse from mechanical-biological treatments\u201d. The conference was framed within the new market dynamic, towards the circular economy. Our current economy follows a linear \u2018throwaway\u2019 model, and as a result, our natural resources and the planet\u2019s ecosystems have been severely affected: to maintain our living standards we need to relentlessly exploit our natural resources, which cannot regenerate at the same rate, resulting in damage which is often irreparable. At the same time the waste that is produced as a by-product of the services and products that we use has become an important problem for society due to the fact that its mishandling and lack of recycling leads to the pollution of our ecosystems, and in many cases harmful effects on the health of humans and animals.<\/p>\n
The conference aimed to analyse the available tools and necessary actions to achieve the legal objectives which Europe, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable development, has set, through the integration of industrial policies and environmental protection. The conference welcomed senior local government officials and specialists in this sector, operators related to waste management, the university community, and the interested general public.<\/p>\n