The student Idoia Urain Descarga obtained an EXCELLENT CUM LAUDE grade
The student Idoia Urain Descarga obtained an EXCELLENT CUM LAUDE grade
The student Idoia Urain Descarga obtained an EXCELLENT CUM LAUDE grade
- Thesis title: Desarrollo de la guía CircularTRANS para ayudar a las empresas industriales de la CAPV a mejorar su competitividad a través de la Economía Circular
Court:
- Presidency: María Dolores Bovea Edo (Universitat Jaume I)
- Vocal: María José Bastante Ceca (Universitat Politècnica de València)
- Vocal: Carmen Jaca García (TECNUN)
- Vocal: Ibon Serrano Lasa (IDEKO)
- Secretary: Leire Gorroño Albizu (Mondragon Unibertsitatea)
Abstract:
The European Green Deal (GD), the economic growth strategy with which Europe aims to boost innovation, competitiveness and employment, is based on an environmentally friendly economy. Among the main guidelines set by the GD is the transition to a Circular Economy (CE) to make maximum use of resources. The European Union (EU) is carrying out different actions to promote the CE (European taxonomy for sustainable finance, sustainable product initiative, etc.), and these are being carried out at state and regional level. Taking the EU as a reference, both Spain and the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (ACBC) are developing their own strategies to integrate CE into society and companies. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the transition towards CE both for companies and society.
Some of the CE solutions (repair, reuse, refurbish, recondition, recycle) are not new to society or to organizations, as they have been implemented when the situation has required it. But today, with the strength that the GD is acquiring, CE actions will not be isolated, but must be integrated into the different systems of society and companies.
Therefore, the objective of this doctoral thesis has been to develop the CircularTRANS guide that helps industrial companies in the Basque Autonomous Community to improve their competitiveness through CE. The methodology used for the research consists of an Action Research (AR) for the creation of the CircularTRANS guide and the application of two case studies for validation.
The CircularTRANS guide consists of a five-step process: i) diagnosis, ii) results, iii) selection of opportunities, iv) action plan and v) roadmap.
The diagnosis was carried out with the Industrial Circular Economy Questionnaire (ICEQ), which responds to the shortcomings identified in the analysis of: i) diagnostic questionnaires and surveys on CE, ii) CE assessment tools, and iii) harmonized standards for management systems and CE. The validation of the questionnaire has been carried out in 30 companies from 17 industrial sectors, and has made it possible to identify training needs of companies in this area, indicators for CE integration in the organization and the need to optimize processes under a CE vision. Therefore, after a review of the state of the art and co-creating with companies from different sectors, the INMOIN Circular indicators model has been developed. The model proposes 433 indicators organized in 12 functional areas so that organizations can manage the progress of their CE based on their needs. In addition, the Industrial Eco-productivity tool has been developed to allow companies to measure the level of production waste, production efficiency and eco-efficiency in order to identify areas for improvement.
The CircularTRANS guide is being used by more than 100 companies and this thesis shows its validation in two case studies: Mugafil (industrial sector) and Clínica Dental Urraca (service sector). In both cases, the process used has provided valuable guiadance, facilitating their transition to the CE. On the one hand, in the case of Mugafil, the company has integrated CE into the organization's strategy and has defined indicators for the strategies of using renewable resources, optimizing resources and closing cycles. All this has led to an improvement in competitiveness by increasing productivity and reducing energy costs (use of renewable energy) and waste management (reduction of managed waste). Moreover, in the case of the clinic, they have integrated CE into the organization's strategy and have defined indicators for all CE strategies. All this has led to improved competitiveness by reducing and optimizing the use of resources and closing cycles.