The 4th National Plastic Recycling Congress, organised by ANARPLA, took place on June 5, 2025, at Cines Callao in Madrid, coinciding with World Environment Day. The event brought together over 450 industry professionals to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the transition towards a circular economy. During the congress, Armando Alvarez Group was honoured with the ANARPLA Sustainability Award, and took an active role in the roundtable on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), where Ana Álvarez, Vice President of the Group, emphasised the need for a collective commitment across the entire value chain to make plastic recycling viable.
Main topics and objectives
One of the highlights of the congress was the presentation of the Spanish Sectoral Strategy for Plastic Recycling, developed through collaboration between industry stakeholders and public administrations. This strategy aims to promote recycling through resource savings and CO₂ emissions reduction, create a unified waste market with clear rules, stimulate recycled material demand via measures such as mandatory recycled content and green public procurement, and improve collection, sorting, and ecodesign to maximise infrastructure potential.
ANARPLA President David Eslava highlighted that the sector helped avoid over 2.2 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions in the past year, consolidating Spain as the leading country in Europe in per capita plastic recycling capacity, and second in total installed capacity, just behind Germany.
Programme and key speakers
The congress featured national and international experts. Key presentations included:
- Antonino Furfari, Director General of Plastics Recyclers Europe, who analysed the current state of plastic recycling in Europe.
- Augusto Bruno, Technical Director of Plastics Recyclers Europe, who presented updates in ecodesign for circularity.
- Almudena Ochoa, professor at the School of Industrial Technical Engineering, who presented the Recforest project.
In addition, roundtables were held on:
- Plastic packaging
- Recycled plastics in construction
- Applications in the automotive sector
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
In the final roundtable, Ana Álvarez, Vice President of Armando Alvarez Group, delivered a powerful message highlighting the real challenges and needs of recycling from the producer’s perspective.
“Incorporating recycled material involves technical challenges, cost, and the need for consistent quality. Innovation and investment have been our approach—but it must be shared across the entire value chain.”
ANARPLA awards
To close the event, the ANARPLA Awards were presented, recognising excellence and commitment in various areas of plastic recycling. In this fourth edition, six key categories were awarded:
- Commitment: RETEMA (Revista Técnica de Medio Ambiente)
- Innovation: Alianza Circularidad PS
- Leadership: Margarita Ruiz (Ministry for the Ecological Transition – MITECO)
- Passion: Founding companies of ANARPLA
- Career Achievement: José María Alegre, Technical Advisor at ANARPLA
- Sustainability: Armando Alvarez Group
The Sustainability Award, accepted by Juan Andrés Álvarez, Head of R&D, Quality, and Sustainability at the Group, recognises our longstanding commitment to circular economy principles, investment in recycling technologies, and effective integration of recycled materials into our production processes—without compromising quality or performance.
The jury highlighted both the measurable environmental impact achieved and the Group’s leadership in promoting a strategic vision for recycling within the plastic transformation industry.
This recognition serves as a validation of the collective efforts of our teams and our firm commitment to a more responsible, innovative, and sustainable future.
Learn more about how we promote environmental sustainability at Armando Alvarez Group.
