Services
Zero Waste
We have three business areas which tackle the management of different types of waste in order to provide a comprehensive solution, acting simultaneously to achieve a common goal: Zero Waste.
We have three business areas which tackle the management of different types of waste in order to provide a comprehensive solution, acting simultaneously to achieve a common goal: Zero Waste.
The generation of waste is one of the largest environmental challenges that modern societies face. Increases in waste on a global level are continuous and poor management can have negative consequences for where the waste is stored. Likewise, if proper waste management is undertaken, the things we throw away can become resources that help us to save raw materials and thus guarantee financial sustainability while having a positive impact on preserving natural resources and ecosystems.
The waste management model that EcoCuadrado uses for its clients (whether they are industrial clients or service-sector clients) is a circular model whose aim is to efficiently collect, classify, and recover waste, putting it back into the system as a new resource. Thus, our model keeps waste from being eliminated and it also helps us to stop using new natural resources. All of this is possible thanks to our comprehensive, global view of the waste value chain. We are intimately familiar with each one of the items that make up the chain.
Zero Waste is a philosophy for working that aims to contribute to sustainable development and that benefits our clients financially, socially, and environmentally.
¿Why?
• Because it implies organized waste management, reducing waste generation and preparing waste to be reused. Likewise, it transforms the waste into raw materials, allowing us to work towards a circular economy.
• Because by reducing the tons of waste that end up in landfills, we likewise reduce the equivalent CO2 emissions.
• Because it generates communication with stakeholders, reassuring the commitment of businesses to the environment and increasing resource sustainability. Ultimately, because it creates a corporate culture, as the “Zero Waste” hallmark provides added value.
• Because it goes a step ahead of legal compliance in terms of waste management.
At EcoCuadrado, our business activity has to do with the purchase and sale of all types of recoverable by-products that have been previously classified at solid urban waste management facilities, waste pickup points, and other recovery facilities. All our business activities pursue a single objective: to optimize transport and minimize environmental impact.
Still, our work goes much further than that. Since 2013, we have increased our product line to come to sell all types of secondary raw materials coming from the recycling sector. In this way, we incorporate said materials into the production process.
Geographically, we work both nationally and internationally and our business activities are likewise versatile. We work as exporters of Spanish by-products and suppliers of raw materials coming from the rest of the world for industrial applications in our country. Likewise, we act as agents in triangular transactions.
Each shipment is accompanied by the corresponding documentation and photographic evidence, thus guaranteeing the traceability of the recycled by-products. This is done on both a national and international level.
Likewise, we offer our clients different transport options (highway, train, or ship) depending on the volume, type of goods to be shipped, and distance. We always provide optimal shipping and generate the lowest possible impact on the environment.
At EcoCuadrado, our environmental consulting activities center around the waste management framework in order to guarantee optimal results.
Our team has vast knowledge on the weaknesses and strengths of the sector, and all of our team members together offer our clients both a global view and a specific solution that meets their needs. Because we understand that every client is different, we have specialized services for everyone.
We visit the facilities of each consumer, always aiming to provide the best possible solution:
Search for (and implementation of) the best available technology:
Whether our clients wish to fine-tune their facilities or add machinery to correctly manage their waste, we make the best Spanish technology providers available to them.
Development and implementation of processes and procedures:
As part of our environmental consulting business, we help to establish the foundations for a Comprehensive Waste Management Plan within the context of the ISO 9001 Standards on Quality Management Systems and the ISO 14001 Standards on Environmental Management Systems.
Market studies:
We can safely say that we have a global view of the national and international markets for different material flows, thanks to the knowhow that we’ve acquired in the purchasing and sale of recycled by-products. We offer our clients sector snapshots, key destinations for the placement of their products and services, SWOT analyses, international prices, entrance barriers, and much more.
Applicable legislation:
The waste management sector is guided and developed, in the majority of the cases, by the current laws in force. Proper knowledge on environmental laws allows us to adapt our clients’ realities and their needs to the legal context. We draft legislative studies for third-party countries to advise our clients before they embark upon international business activities.
Improvements in solid urban waste management facilities and recycling facilities:
At EcoCuadrado, we have the ability to develop detailed engineering, conceptual engineering, or just basic engineering. We also undertake the environmental impact studies that are necessary in order to put into place or modify a wood or cardboard recycling plant – or a plant that recycles any other material.
Individual management systems:
Current Spanish and European laws allow manufacturers and waste generators to put together collective and/or individual management systems in order to comply with their environmental responsibilities in terms of waste management. In Spain, most opt for collective systems; however, individual systems do exist which operate both efficiently and responsibly in terms of the environment, achieving better recovery results. At EcoCuadrado, we help our clients to comply with that goal, and to establish, additionally, their own individual systems to operate in Spain and comply with the objectives set forth by Spanish law, or those set forth by their parent company.
Project feasibility:
The management of hospital waste or other types of industrial waste –as well as the management of domestic waste– requires rigorous environmental responsibility. Thus, to achieve proper waste management, it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive approach that considers a broadened life cycle both in terms of the product and of the waste. From a financial standpoint, it is necessary to design and put into motion profitable and efficient facilities, whether they are for waste disposal, treatment, or elimination.
What is “Green Destruction?”
“Green Destruction” is a service offered to companies, producers, and warehousers who have audiovisual materials or graphic materials in stock that need to be destroyed, whether this be for copyright reasons or because of sales deficiencies or impossibilities. Traditionally, this service consisted of shredding the materials and subsequently transferring them to a landfill or to an incinerator.
Currently, the “Green Destruction” project is a new paradigm for today’s concept of waste destruction as it is offered by companies. The model we use at EcoCuadrado aims to achieve system sustainability by exploiting the by-products derived from multi-product compositions.
For example, in a DVD movie from the current market we can find paper, polypropylene, polycarbonate, etc. Why should we destroy it and sent it to a landfill when its materials can be exploited when separated? “Green Destruction” separates the basic components and is able to exploit 100% of the items we find in a CD or DVD, even achieving profits for clients in some cases.
But this project would not be possible without the close cooperation of the organizations we work with; foundations for people with intellectual disabilities who labor to give the project shape in their workshops. Thus, “Green Destruction” has a social aspect that is very important for us.
We are currently living in a time of renewed models for consumption and environmental care. At EcoCuadrado, we are convinced of that, and the “Green Destruction Project” can help with transforming into profits the costs associated with surplus production management.
Why choose “Green Destruction?”
Because the “Green Destruction” project can change the current concept of waste destruction as it is normally offered by companies. The project focuses on the management of the individual pieces that make up multi-product compositions:
Today, the destruction of movies and videogames consists of shredding the product in order to certify destruction. Once the notary certificate of destruction has been issued, the product is sent to the landfill or to an incinerator as it is a non-recyclable, mixed multi-product.
“Green Destruction” proposes not just certifying but also recycling by exploiting the by-products in order to keep us from putting recyclable materials into landfills.
We separate the basic components, which are later sent to recycling facilities where they are added to raw materials in order to make new products.
A key piece of this process is cooperation with people in less-favorable situations.
There are many types of materials which cannot be sold: movies, videogames, music, books, notebooks, brochures, etc., all of which have been discontinued; objects from advertising and merchandising campaigns; and office materials.
Generally, these materials are mixed. Let’s examine the following example:
A standard videogame includes: a polycarbonate (PC) disk, a transparent cover made of polyamides, a paper jacket, a paper insert inside the jacket, a polypropylene (PP) case => all of this implies a loss as a starting point. To that, we must add:
The consequence and, therefore, the natural destiny for these materials is their destruction and subsequent energy recovery instead of waste management; or, perhaps, their elimination in a landfill – a situation which is due to the fact that the handling costs for these materials are greater than the expected income. We must emphasize that these items are considered waste; they are a conglomeration of different materials that make up a whole. Without proper treatment, there is nothing we can do but to consider these items to be waste.
Those who have these items pay to have their production surplus destroyed.
At EcoCuadrado, we have a new way to conceive the idea of recyclability (both in personal and spatial terms).
We separate the product into different materials based on its basic components. We work with a clear premise: PROCESSING. This allows us to reach the TBL (Triple Bottom Line): FINANCIAL + ENVIRONMENTAL + SOCIAL Results.
The model is able to generate income through the exploitation of each one of the materials separately so that overall benefits are obtained:
Because each one of the materials involved can bring in a monetary sum, depending on the type of product to be processed.
Because this model encourages and generates social work – green jobs for less-favored collectives.
Because the by-products can be recycled and thus return to the production cycle. We offer certificates with product traceability which are always available to our clients.
All clues seem to indicate that the linear logic of production and consumption is coming to its end. A new, sustainable model based on natural principles is gaining momentum in the economies of the twenty-first century.
From a waste management perspective, the circular economy means giving a second life to materials that didn’t have any value beforehand – and thus, their only management in the past was to put them into a landfill. Nowadays, that same waste can be turned into valuable by-products for the same industry or other neighboring industries (provided the proper management exists).
Our experience and background allows us to provide solutions and think of alternative models for waste management in accordance with the Circular Economy. Said models are both environmentally and socially responsible, as well as being financially feasible and profitable.
The best waste is that which we do not generate; therefore, correcting imperfections in the production chain must be our first step in order to optimize our processes and minimize the waste we generate. Later, by correctly separating the waste at the originating site, we will be able to exploit 100% of said waste.
Hazardous waste –waste that poses a potential risk for the environment and for people– must be entrusted to companies which comply with current law. Therefore, we offer our experience and commitment to that end.
The model we established in the logistics warehouse of a European supermarket chain has achieved the recognition of AENOR for being the first comprehensive waste management system in Spain that met the “Zero Waste” objective. This methodology is applicable to any context, regardless of the flow of waste generated.
This is an especially valuable industry, as it is the key for preparing waste to be reused. Our centers and workshops provide solutions to those clients who want to give a second service life to all types of electric and electronic devices (AEES).
Optimizing logistics is, for us, an aim and a way of working. Through reverse logistics and full occupation of our vehicles, we are able to reduce both our financial and environmental impact.
The network of recycling facilities that we work with allows us to properly manage each one of the flows of waste and by-products generated by our clients. Traceability and an improved market price are left at the client's disposal.
The best waste is that which we do not generate; therefore, correcting imperfections in the production chain must be our first step in order to optimize our processes and minimize the waste we generate. Later, by correctly separating the waste at the originating site, we will be able to exploit 100% of said waste.
Hazardous waste –waste that poses a potential risk for the environment and for people– must be entrusted to companies which comply with current law. Therefore, we offer our experience and commitment to that end.
The model we established in the logistics warehouse of a European supermarket chain has achieved the recognition of AENOR for being the first comprehensive waste management system in Spain that met the “Zero Waste” objective. This methodology is applicable to any context, regardless of the flow of waste generated.
This is an especially valuable industry, as it is the key for preparing waste to be reused. Our centers and workshops provide solutions to those clients who want to give a second service life to all types of electric and electronic devices (AEES).
Optimizing logistics is, for us, an aim and a way of working. Through reverse logistics and full occupation of our vehicles, we are able to reduce both our financial and environmental impact.
The network of recycling facilities that we work with allows us to properly manage each one of the flows of waste and by-products generated by our clients. Traceability and an improved market price are left at the client's disposal.