The awards recognise the best Catalan initiatives in waste prevention and were presented on 26 March as part of the Zero Waste Festival.
Fundació MAP, a non-profit organisation from Ripollès; Suela-Ràpid, a business with two shops —in Lleida and Mollerussa— and a collection point in Agramunt; the social enterprise Saó Prat, from Prat de Llobregat, and the Pallars Jussà Regional Council, together with the Tremp and La Pobla de Segur town councils, are the four winners of the sixth edition of the Rezero Catalunya Awards in the categories of organisation, business, enterprise, and public administration, respectively.
Organised by the Rezero Foundation, these awards recognise the best waste prevention initiatives in Catalonia. The Rezero Awards ceremony is part of the activities of the Zero Waste Festival, organised by the Rezero Foundation and Zero Waste Europe to mark World Zero Waste Day, celebrated on 30 March.
Award-winning initiatives
Organisation Category: Fundació MAP
The winning initiative is that of Fundació MAP, a non-profit organisation that supports people with disabilities and those in vulnerable situations in Ripollès. In 2010, it opened the Segonamà shop in Ripoll, where eight people currently work, six of whom have a disability certificate. In 2022, they launched the project “La segona oportunitat truca a la porta” (“A second chance knocks on the door”), which involves the collection of unwanted household items. Each year, they collect an average of 43,000 kg, of which they have recovered around 13,000 kg, coming from more than 100 home clear-outs.
Business Category: Suela-Ràpid
With shops in Lleida and Mollerussa, and a collection point in Agramunt, Suela-Ràpid offers repair services that extend the life of footwear and a variety of items, from suitcases to ladles, helping to prevent waste. Additionally, they inform customers of their rights and offer an unlimited guarantee on repairs. They also use sustainable materials and promote conscious consumption through environmental awareness.
Each repair not only prevents waste, emissions, and resource depletion, but also positions repair professionals as key players in the transition to a circular and sustainable economy.
Enterprise Category: Saó Prat
Through the REDÓ project, the social enterprise Saó Prat, based in Prat de Llobregat, promotes the efficient management of resources in construction and renovation by applying circular economy principles. To achieve this, they have identified and applied deconstruction techniques to reuse and recycle materials, such as roof tiles, hydraulic floors, sanitary ware, and wooden elements. They have also trained people at risk of social exclusion, developed educational materials, and set up resource recovery circuits for materials that cannot be reused within the same project (for example, through a sales catalogue). Additionally, they collaborate with waste managers, recycling centres, and landfill sites to ensure that non-reusable elements are correctly processed.
These deconstruction techniques have already been implemented in various pilot projects, helping to reduce the environmental impact of construction while offering job opportunities to people at risk of exclusion.
Public Administration Category: Pallars Jussà Regional Council, Tremp and La Pobla de Segur Town Councils
The Pallars Jussà Regional Council and the town councils of Tremp and La Pobla de Segur have launched a pilot project to test two systems for reusing packaging in small-scale producers and local businesses. One initiative has created a collection circuit for glass jars used for pâté and tupí (a traditional Catalan cheese spread), involving two local food producers and small retailers that sell their products. Another initiative enables four takeaway food businesses to offer a reusable polypropylene container rental system, where customers can return the containers to any of the participating shops. Both projects promote behavioural change through a loyalty card and reward system linked to the number of returned containers.
This is the first time in Catalonia that a public administration has promoted a packaging reuse system specifically for small-scale producers and takeaway food businesses.
