CONTENUR, the first Spanish company to be awarded AENOR's Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) certificate

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• CONTENUR obtains the certificate as a definite step towards achieving its objective and strategy in environmental sustainability as part of its Circle Project (http://www.contenur.com/sostenibilidad)

• The OCS certificate verifies the implementation of good practices in a company, guaranteeing zero pellet loss, contributing to a reduced impact on flora and aquatic fauna, and maximising raw material use.
  
  
• In Spain, ANAIP holds the OCS rights, so before obtaining the certificate, companies wishing to do so must join the programme through the association.

30 April, 2019. AENOR has delivered the first Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) certificate in Spain to CONTENUR, an initiative led by the Spanish Association of Industrial of Plastics (ANAIP), to reduce possible escapes and leaks of microplastics to the environment, as pellets, flakes, or powdered resin.

The award ceremony took place as part of ANAIP's 74th General Assembly, during which Rafael García Meiro, CEO of AENOR, presented Íñigo Querejeta, CEO of CONTENUR, with this recognition that demonstrates the company's commitment to preventing pellets from ending up in the environment.

OCS promotes the use of good cleaning and control practices in all operations involving plastic pellets, to avoid these reaching the environment, particularly the aquatic domain. AENOR certifies a company's degree of compliance based on five main measures: by making the "zero pellet loss" objective a priority; by assessing the situation and needs of the company; by carrying out necessary improvements to the facilities and equipment; by creating awareness among staff and fostering a sense of responsibility; and by monitoring progress and enforcing the procedures.

AENOR's Chief Executive Officer, Rafael García Meiro, stressed that "this certificate demonstrates CONTENUR's concern for caring for the environment, expressing a long-term commitment to good practice, in line with current societal values and consumer demand. Waste management is one of the most complicated environmental challenges currently faced by society. When waste is properly managed, it can be converted into resources that guarantee economic sustainability and have a positive effect on the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems".

For Íñigo Querejeta, CEO of CONTENUR, "getting the OCS certificate places us at the forefront of our sector, and is a major step towards fulfilling our Circle proposal and our long-term environmental objectives. These objectives are to increase the consumption of post-consumer recycled materials, eliminate pellet loss, and improve the environmental performance of our design and manufacturing processes".

Finally, the CEO of ANAIP, Luis Cediel, stated that the OCS programme is "a reflection of the plastic industry's commitment to the environment, the optimisation of resources, and the circular economy". ANAIP encourages companies from throughout the value chain to join this initiative, and promotes the certification of OCS implementation as a sign of commitment.

Implementation of the OCS programme measures applies to any company involved in the production, transport, storage, and transformation of plastic raw materials. In Spain, ANAIP holds the OCS rights, which is why those companies that wish to join the programme must do so through the association before they can be certified. Once they have joined the association, AENOR certi­fies the degree of implementation of the OCS scheme in the company on a regular basis, in accordance with the principles of impartiality and independence, as well as the requirements of the reference standard. This demonstrates compliance with the measures to which the company has committed. Currently, more than fifty companies in the Spanish plastics sector are members of OCS.