• The ‘Circulares/Zirkularrak’ (Circular Products) exhibition is the most important of its kind in Europe to date
• This exhibition will be open to the public until 27 November at Ficoba (Irun) and includes 175 products manufactured by Basque companies using circular economy criteria
• The products come from the automotive, machinery, metal, mobility, chemical, food, furniture, consumer products, building materials and electrical and electronic sectors
• It provides a comprehensive vision of the potential of eco-design and the circular economy in all areas of Basque business activity

Real examples of the work that Basque companies are doing in the field of eco-design and the circular economy can be seen at the Ficoba exhibition centre (Irun). The ‘Circulares/Zirkularrak’ (Circular Products) travelling exhibition was inaugurated yesterday as part of the Basque Circular Summit 2022. The collection consists of 175 sustainable and eco-designed products from different industrial sectors in the Basque Country . The show will be open to the public until November 27.

The exhibition was organised by Ihobe, the public environmental management company of the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment of the Basque Government, and offers a comprehensive vision of the potential of eco-design and the circular economy in all areas of Basque business activity. The products on display come from various value chains: the automotive sector (14 products), machinery (10), metal (7), mobility (7), the chemical sector (15), food (19), furniture (21), consumer products (15), construction materials (37) and the electrical and electronics sector (30).

‘Circulares/Zirkularrak’ allows visitors to find out about the commitment of 115 Basque companies which have managed to substantially reduce the environmental impact of their products by implementing circular models. These include a floating photovoltaic solar structure manufactured by Emica Solar. This structure, which provides the advantages of solar photovoltaic generation, also provides significant improvements due to the fact that it is floating, such as no ground occupation, and better cooling which increases production and reduces water evaporation.

One of the other products, from the construction materials sector, is a drainage channel made by Ulma, a novel solution based on recycled PET that provides up to 4 times greater mechanical strength than using traditional concrete.

In the automotive sector, one of the examples shown here is a suspension knuckle developed by Fagor Ederlan. It is made of cast aluminium and has halved the weight, while incorporating recycled materials. It has also been processed in plants using renewable energy facilities.

In the field of furniture, Sindesperdicio has developed a service for companies and organisations for designing and assembling spaces at trade fairs, congresses and corporate spaces, based on recovered and transformed furniture.

There is a product made by the Azti technology centre that focuses on using waste in the food sector: this is a sauce with the aroma of mature cheese, produced using a sub-product from making Idiazabal cheese, whey, which would otherwise go to waste.

One of the products consumer on show at ‘Circulares/Zirkularrak’ is a toothpaste in tablet form. This is a completely new system of applying toothpaste developed by Onak which, as it is in tablet form, reduces water consumption by 70% and uses refillable and fully reusable containers.

In the metal sector, one of the products on show was developed by Nemak. It is a secondary aluminium alloy made from scrap instead of raw aluminium, which reduces energy consumption by 95%. It avoids the consumption of natural resources and ensures quality in the manufacturing of automotive components.

Another of the 175 products, this time from the machinery sector, is the NX PRO dual filament-pellet 3D printer manufactured by Indart 3D. It can work with 100% recycled material and the printed parts can be fed back into the printer.

One of the products from the chemical sector is a multi-channel mini-reactor developed by Tecnalia. These mini-channels mean that more energy and material transfer is achieved, which increases productivity. The reactor’s small size also optimises floor space.

Lastly, one of the examples from the mobility sector involves equipment for treating ballast water on merchant ships developed by Garabi. This is the first Basque unit for treating ballast water which, thanks to its eco-design, has also achieved a 33% reduction in environmental footprint thanks to its lower energy consumption.

The exhibition is a space where the work and commitment of Basque companies can be seen as a reality within the framework of the Basque Circular Summit 2022. Basque companies have been applying environmental criteria in the design and development phase of their products for more than 20 years, and are leaders when it comes to producing eco-designed products and services in Spain, with the region being considered a benchmark in southern Europe, particularly in the industrial field.

More information can be found at https://zirkularrak.ihobe.eus/