The generation of waste is one of the most complicated environmental challenges currently faced by society. As a result, AENOR's Zero Waste Certificate attests that organizations recycle their different types of waste, thus preventing them from ending up in a landfill.
Neglecting or failing to manage waste properly has negative impacts on the environment, leading to the contamination of water, soil and air, affecting ecosystems and human health.
The prioritization of prevention and reduction, along with proper management, can minimize waste and convert it into resources that help save raw materials, yielding a positive effect on the preservation of natural resources and ecosystems, and on the sustainability of our activity.
The Circular Economy model aims to invert the current waste management pyramid by maximizing actions to prevent and recover waste (reduction, reuse, recycling or energy recovery).
AENOR's Zero Waste certification is in line with Circular Economy actions performed by the OECD, PNUMA (Agenda 2030), G20, European Union and Spain.
The requirements of this certification scheme are set out in the international action line with regard to the Circular Economy, together with other certificates such as Ecodesign, End of Waste, the Water Footprint, and others.
This system does not imply generating zero waste, but rather the appropriate management of waste in order to reduce its generation, prepare it for reuse and/or transform it into raw materials to reintroduce it into the value chain.
One of the prime benefits of this certification system is the optimisation of waste management processes, which lowers the costs of waste processing and provides additional income from this processing. It also provides companies certified with the ISO 14001 added value thanks to their specific processing or disposal technologies in waste management.
This certification allows organizations:
The Zero Waste certification scheme is intended for any type of organization that can guarantee the recovery (reuse, recycling or energy recovery) of the waste it generates, thus diverting all waste from landfill disposal.
Once an organisation has passed the verification process, it will receive a confirmation statement detailing any non-conformities, observations and opportunities to improve the result of the process. Similarly, if the result is satisfactory, the client is awarded the Zero Waste mark, along with a Verification statement specifying the percentage of recovery of each waste fraction within the scope of the process.
Once the audit process has been completed, the organisation obtains:
The first AENOR Zero Waste certificates were awarded to companies in the Retail and Agri-food sector and in the automotive industry.
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