FCC Medio Ambiente held today the prize-giving ceremony for the fourth edition of its AVANZA Awards, which are held every two years to recognise the work and effort made by its professionals in contributing every day to the improvement of the company's competitiveness, social integration, respect for the environment and the development and application of innovative solutions or practices. 

The ceremony was chaired by the managing director of the Energy Transition and Circular Economy of the Madrid Regional Government, Cristina Aparicio, who, accompanied by Jordi Payet, CEO of FCC Medio Ambiente, presented the awards. Susana Pelegrín, head of the Quality, Environment and Sustainability department, and Francisco José Huete, director of Management Systems and Sustainability, moderated the event. 

Ms Cristina Aparicio stated that "promoting social integration, perfecting processes, respect for the environment and fostering innovation are the pillars of sustainability and progress, values that are shared in the Region of Madrid". The managing director added that "FCC has demonstrated its leadership in areas such as waste management, the efficient use of resources, the reduction of emissions and the adoption of more sustainable practices; meeting objectives from growth without leaving anyone behind, values that the Region of Madrid embraces".

For his part, Jordi Payet highlighted the success of this fourth edition and conveyed his congratulations and recognition to the people of the company, their rebelliousness and commitment to improving competitiveness by providing added value, in short, to excellence as one of the cornerstones of FCC Medio Ambiente's 2050 Sustainability Strategy. 

This year's edition, under the motto "Together, we create the future" and from the scope of the 20 delegations of the company in Spain and Portugal, 22 initiatives have competed, the largest response since the contest was launched, and four of them have been awarded in the different categories: Social Initiatives, Quality, Environment and Innovation.

Innovative, sustainable and committed projects

The jury emphasised the high quality of the projects, which focused on very sensitive issues with great social and environmental impact: circular economy, improvement of processes, equality programmes, integration and inclusion, use of technology to optimise service while respecting the environment, among others. 

In the Quality category, the prize went to the "Use of new technology for 100% control of the weighing of litter bins on the Arenal in the cleaning of the beaches of San Sebastián" project, by Carmelo Aguas, from the Gipuzkoa-Navarra branch. The initiative develops a computer application to control the weighing of litter bins on the beaches of San Sebastian-Donostia, via mobile phone, which provides data on this service in real time.

Víctor Badenas and Judit Ríos, from the Eastern Industrial Waste - Neveras Centre area, have been awarded in the Innovation category for their "Zero Waste and Circular Economy in the Refrigerator Recycling Plant" project. This initiative is developed under the idea "Waste = Resource" and is based on efficiency and reuse, and aims to achieve an increase in recycling and recovery of the plant reaching an overall recovery rate of 93%.

In the Environment category, the "Bi-compartment rear-loading compactor collector with reduced dimensions on a hybrid electric chassis" initiative won, presented by Antonio Bravo, Raúl Carpio and Jesús Pajares, from the Machinery Department. The project consists of the design and manufacture of a rear-loading compactor collector lorry with two completely independent compartments, consisting of a chassis and a bodywork with a newly developed double container lift, with the aim of reducing the vehicle's dimensions and thus making it possible to operate in areas of the city where it would be impossible to work with a standard lorry.

Finally, the "Programme for the Labour Market Integration of Groups at Risk of Exclusion" presented by Jesús García, Javier de la Torre and Laura Mirat, from the Madrid Branch, was the winner in the category of best Social Initiative. It is an innovative programme for inclusive development, which promotes the labour market integration of groups at risk of social exclusion, and allows for detailed monitoring and analysis of recruitment processes.

When assessing the awarded applications, the jury took into account those that met the following requirements: innovative characteristics; technical, environmental, social and management improvements; competitive improvements and applicability to other contracts and areas; the possibility of future developments based on the one presented; improvements for workers and their living conditions; and improvements for groups at risk of exclusion. 

The Avanza Awards were created with the aim of channelling the know-how of the people of FCC Medio Ambiente, as well as recognising their effort and willingness to participate through proposals that can be translated into operational improvements that increase the company's competitiveness. They are part of the 2050 Sustainability Strategy and within the framework of its commitment to research, development and innovation. 

About FCC Medio Ambiente

FCC Medio Ambiente has been, for over 110 years, the backbone of FCC Group's environmental services. It currently serves 66 million people in 5,200 municipalities around the world. 

The company carries out various activities that reflect its extensive experience in the industry, including: collection, treatment and recycling, energy recovery and disposal of solid urban waste; cleaning of public space; maintenance of sewerage networks; maintenance and upkeep of green areas; treatment and disposal of industrial waste; and recovery of contaminated soils.

FCC Medio Ambiente operates in 3,700 municipalities in Spain and Portugal (FCC Environment), serving a population of 32 million inhabitants.

The FCC Group has over 120 years of experience in the provision of services to cities. It is a world leader in environmental services, end-to-endwater management and infrastructure development and construction.