Writing a year-in-review article may sound a little pretentious for a start-up like Recircular. After all, we don't have billion-euro budgets, nor do we have dozens of investors fighting to invest in our business.

But throughout the year, we have reached some remarkable milestones, achievements that were even hard to imagine for a company our size, and that we want to look back on with you.

Because, deep down, what we do is climb eight-thousanders and, once we reach the summit, say: "On to the next one!"

How did the circular economy perform in 2024?

We would love to say that circularity really "took off" in 2024, that this was the year of the circular economy. But we have to be realistic: we are still quite a long way from that point.

At an international level, as highlighted in the 2024 edition of the Circularity Gap Report, circularity has been discussed more than ever in forums and debates. However, statistics show that the share of secondary materials consumed by the global economy fell from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023, representing a 21% decline over five years.

At European level, as highlighted in the latest Cotec report on the circular economy, the EU has implemented major initiatives, but overall progress towards a circular economy remains slow.

And Spain, for example, remains quite far from European municipal waste recycling targets. There is also a need to boost product design, innovation and efficient recycling. One of our main challenges? The need to focus our efforts on the first strategies in the waste hierarchy: reduction and reuse.

This situation is also reflected in businesses. We see strong interest in the circular economy and the recovery and valorisation of industrial resources (industrial waste, surplus materials, and unused equipment and materials). However, if we want to meet the national targets that have been set, we need to move from interest to action and dedicate the necessary time and resources to this area. We need to make a greater effort to implement the circular economy within companies and generate success stories that turn circularity into a reality.

recircular's milestones in 2024

Despite the uncertainty and the fact that, when it comes to circularity, markets are still not sending the positive signals we would like to see, at Recircular we have once again worked hard to demonstrate the benefits of the circular economy.

Our allies on this mission have been:

  • technology;
  • environmental, social and economic impact;
  • communication through our blog, newsletters and social media;
  • exploring new markets, sectors, resources to be recovered and new partnerships;
  • a passion for a job well done; and
  • complete confidence in an outstanding team.

We received funding through the Circular Economy PERTE!

You can imagine what the news meant to us… Goals within reach and the opportunity to take a giant leap forward in the development of our business. Because we won't deny that this kind of funding can be extremely significant, especially when you're a small company without substantial resources.

You may be thinking, "Wait, can companies the size of recircular also benefit from PERTE funding?" Yes, they can. We are proof of that. Although we should also say that the process is demanding: paperwork, reporting, communications and much more.

The PERTE not only provided us with funding. In a way, it also validated the positive impact of our business initiative.

Part of the team at the latest edition of B-Venture in Bilbao. October 2024

recircular starts exploring international markets

In 2023, recircular was selected for ICEX's Desafía London programme, an initiative that also involves Cambridge Cleantech and Oxfordshire Greentech Canopy (CISL), to explore the opportunities offered by the UK for our business. Given the interest we identified, we decided to continue analysing the opportunities available in this market.

So this year, we placed a special focus on attending environmental and waste management events in London and Birmingham.

But we also explored potential partnerships, connected with associations and companies, and immersed ourselves in the British entrepreneurship ecosystem and its vibrant atmosphere.

In September 2024, we attended the Resource & Waste Management Expo in Birmingham.

More resource recovery, more impact, more visibility

In 2024, we stayed true to our philosophy and continued supporting companies on their journey towards circularity. And it is work that makes us extremely proud.

But we also managed to:

  • generate greater impact and recover more industrial resources, with almost 100% of them ultimately being reused rather than recycled;
  • work with food surplus and organisations such as Elika, one of our first collaborations with a public administration;
  • look for solutions for complex waste streams such as feminine hygiene products;
  • give a second life to waste generated during the dismantling of an aluminium factory;
  • participate in and attend events and present our value proposition;
  • be selected for initiatives such as BIND SME, BIND GovTech and Top 101 Startups;
  • help companies affected by the DANA that swept across much of Spain's Mediterranean coastline by providing them with materials from our platform;
  • be included in UNIDO's AIM Global initiative;
  • organise webinars with relevant partners; and
  • contribute to raising awareness about the circular economy.

The new version of the recircular platform: the perfect finishing touch to our year in review

Of course, our year in review would be incomplete without mentioning one of our biggest milestones: the launch of the new version of our waste recovery and valorisation platform.

The PERTE is one of the main "culprits" behind making the new platform a reality.

Thanks to the funding we received, we were able to turn this powerful tool into reality in collaboration with numerous professionals who supported us — and racked their brains alongside us — throughout the process.

By using artificial intelligence, we can now connect companies more efficiently. We have also improved our traceability and blockchain-based registration solution, added the ability to generate waste management documentation, improved our impact calculations and enhanced our analysis of waste generation data.

Looking ahead

We will remember 2024 as the year in which we began taking giant steps to establish and strengthen our value proposition, with a more robust and versatile product that better adapts to companies' needs.

Although we are very proud of what we achieved this year, the results are not quite as strong as we would have liked because the sector is still struggling to step on the accelerator.

Looking ahead to 2025, the challenges are ambitious: consolidating our internationalisation process, expanding our team, continuing to improve our digital platform, developing our business models further and strengthening collaboration with companies that share our vision of a more circular world.

If you want to be part of this transformation or learn more about how we can help you, don't hesitate to contact us.

Together, we can turn a small step for your business into a giant leap for the circular economy.