auma produced a strategic study for an international engineering firm on the value of waste streams in Spain: not which wastes are generated, but which ones have real potential as secondary raw materials — and where the business case sits.
Project overview
| Client | International engineering firm (confidential) |
| Market | Industry |
| Practice area | Waste and circular economy |
| Location | Spain |
| Services | Strategic market study |
| Year | 2023 |
The challenge
Talking about the circular economy is easy; identifying where recoverable value actually sits is much less so. The client wanted to know where to invest:
- Fragmented data: waste statistics are split across national, regional and sectoral sources.
- Gap between potential and market: many streams are technically recoverable but have neither demand nor price.
- Regulation decides: waste or by-product status changes a business case entirely.
The auma solution
The study crosses three layers usually analysed separately: volume, technology and market.
- Identification and quantification of the main waste streams and their territorial distribution.
- Analysis of the available recovery routes and their technological maturity.
- Comparison against real demand for secondary raw materials and the regulatory framework for each stream.
The result
- A value map ranking streams by real potential rather than generated volume.
- Identification of the opportunities where availability, technology and demand coincide.
- A strategic basis for investment decisions in recovery facilities.
An abundant waste is not an opportunity: the opportunity is an abundant waste someone will pay a price for that covers the cost of transforming it.
Frequently asked questions
What is a secondary raw material?
Material recovered from waste that replaces virgin raw material in a production process. To circulate on the market as a product it must have reached end-of-waste status or be declared a by-product.
What makes a waste stream valuable?
A combination of available, concentrated volume, a technologically mature recovery route, real demand at a sustained price, and a regulatory framework that allows it to be traded.
What is the difference between waste and by-product?
Waste is subject to the waste management regime; a by-product can be used directly in another process without being waste, provided it meets the legal conditions and obtains the corresponding declaration from the environmental authority.
Want to know where the real value in your waste streams sits?
We analyse volume, technology and market so the investment decision is not based on hunches.
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