The 3rd Edition of the BASF Awards has recognized the “Calvo Zero Waste” project as the best circular economy practice in the Large Company category.
Grupo Calvo currently manages 91.1% of its non-hazardous waste, approaching its goal of reaching 100% by 2025.
As part of its commitment to the circular economy, the company has succeeded in ensuring that more than 99% of the products it places on the market can be recycled.
Carballo, November 17, 2021.- Grupo Calvo has been named the recipient of the BASF Award for the best circular practice in the “Large Company” category for its “Calvo Zero Waste” project. The initiative was undertaken by the company to achieve sustainable management of all waste generated by company activity.
During the awards ceremony Mané Calvo García-Benavides, CEO of Grupo Calvo, thanked the organization for bestowing these awards and for the recognition received in being “an incentive to continue reinforcing the company’s commitment to the circular economy concretized in projects as demanding as ‘Calvo Zero Waste,’ Since its implementation in 2017, the initiative has signified an extraordinary leap enabling the recovery of 91% of our non-hazardous waste worldwide.”
Mariví Sánchez Jiménez, Grupo Calvo’s director of Sustainability and Communications, in turn highlighted “the involvement of the entire Grupo Calvo team, which makes it possible for us to be a more sustainable company day by day, reaching significant milestones like having 99% of the packaging we put on the market be recyclable.”
This is the third implementation of these awards organized by the BASF Group and the Club of Excellence in Sustainability. With support from EFE Green, they seek to underscore the value of the best projects being carried out in Spain in the area of the circular economy. Along with the “Large Company” category, in which Grupo Calvo received acknowledgment, the awards have five other categories: public initiative, SMEs, start-ups, academia and outreach.
Responsible Engagement 2025
“Calvo Zero Waste” is a key component within the Responsible Engagement global sustainability strategy that sets forth 17 improvement targets in the 2020-2025 horizon to be met in three areas of action: oceans, environment and people. In relation to the circular economy, the commitment to valorizing 100% of non-hazardous waste stands out. Thanks to “Calvo Zero Waste”, the company is getting closer to meeting the goal, having reached 91.1% in 2020. Among other resources, Grupo Calvo has its own waste management factories in Brazil and El Salvador. These facilities have the capacity to convert waste from tuna and sardine processing into fishmeal and fish oil that are used as raw material inputs in the livestock feed and cosmetics industries.
Other objectives in connection with the circular economy included under the “Responsible Engagement 2025” framework are the elimination of single-use materials, especially plastics, in company factories and offices, for at least 95% of packaging to be recyclable and ensuring that at least 85% of the materials used come from a recycled origin or source certified as being sustainable. At the end of 2020, the company had made significant progress, surpassing the target of 95% recyclable packaging for a total of 99.5%. The indicator for materials of recycled or sustainable origin is also showing progress and stands at 51.8%
