Used coffee capsules, old chemical bottles and broken household furniture. These are all items that would often end up in landfill. In Madrid, they’re being turned into compost fertiliser and specialist filament or repaired using 3D-printed parts. This is all thanks to connections made at the city’s Centro de Innovación de Economía Circular (CIEC).
The Centre for Innovation in the Circular Economy was launched in 2022 to foster innovation, attract talent, promote entrepreneurship and create new job opportunities. It is managed by the City of Madrid in collaboration with innovation consulting firm Barrabes, Eurostar Mediagroup, engineering firm Sacyr, academic institutions such as the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and the Juan XXIII Foundation, which supports social and professional inclusion for people with disabilities.
The Centre goes beyond early thinking around recycling and the social economy to recognise the breadth of stakeholders needed to make the circular economy truly thrive.
“We knew we needed to bring in more small and medium-sized enterprises and that we needed to have the universities involved in the development of the centre,” said Cristina Sanabria Brassart, an Advisor in the City of Madrid’s Economy Department and part of the management team for the CIEC. “We also wanted to have anchor companies and programmes to help start-ups to be developed.”
She added: “Nowadays, CIEC Madrid is a growing and replicable ecosystem of innovation and talent. It is based on collaboration, where companies, start-ups, universities, entrepreneurs, associations, citizens and the Madrid City Council converge in a unique public-private partnership.”
CIEC Madrid is a growing and replicable ecosystem of innovation and talent. Companies, start-ups, universities, entrepreneurs, associations, citizens and the Madrid City Council converge in a unique public-private partnership.
All the services and resources at the Centre are available free of charge to individuals and businesses of all sizes.
Madrid’s approach has been recognised internationally and is shortlisted in the Eurocities Awards, which will be held during the Eurocities Annual Conference in Cluj Napoca later this month.
Tailor-made business support
Businesses large and small are crucial to the circular economy due to the materials they use and generate. In addition, embracing the circular economy can help companies find new business models, revenue streams and opportunities to reduce costs.
Training is a key service offered by Madrid’s CIEC, covering foundational topics such as operational competencies, talent, entrepreneurship, and more. The programmes include practical guidance and showcase real examples of companies successfully implementing circular principles.
In addition, the team recognised that various business verticals face different challenges. Throughout the year, the CIEC therefore focuses on specific fields every two months, including energy, agri-food and hospitality, construction, textiles, bio-tech medicine, and a cross-sector category.
Courses and support are “tailor made” for certain sectors based on feedback from businesses, said Ana López Loureiro, an Innovation Consultant at Barabes and Project Manager for the CIEC. For example, textiles is a key sector in Madrid and companies will be affected by major new environmental regulations that are on the way, related to the durability and recyclability of products and responsibilities around waste management.
“We realised that many small and medium-sized textile companies were not aware of this,” said López Loureiro.
Business support programmes are also on offer for start-ups, entrepreneurs and large enterprises. The Centre aims to support 30 companies every six months.
Courses and support are 'tailor made' for certain sectors based on feedback from businesses.
Its incubation programme helps start-ups to test prototypes and validate business ideas. The acceleration programme helps firms that have products already on the market to scale, while the circularisation programme supports companies that have yet to incorporate circular economy practices.
By offering programmes specifically for start-ups, the Centre helps new businesses set up in a circular way from the beginning.
“Many start-ups have some nice ideas about sustainability and they are working on very innovative projects,” said María Luisa Martínez Muneta, a Professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. “They are often using recycled materials but they stop there. They also need to close the loop after production and we push them to think about what happens at the end of the life of their products.”
Kafka is a start-up focused on using biotechnology processes to turn commercial by-products from agriculture, retail and other sectors into valuable products and resources.
We push them [startups] to think about what happens at the end of the life of their products.
“Kafka was born as a cooperative in the framework of the CIEC Madrid’s 2023 incubation programme with the aim of co-leading a circular and just future, contributing innovative biotechnology, social inclusion and environmental responsibility,” said Fernando Bandres, Founder of Kafka.
“This has been made possible thanks to the ecosystem support provided by the CIEC Madrid and partnerships with other participating companies, as well as anchor companies like the Juan XXIII Foundation and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, in addition to the Madrid City Council.
“This year, we are participating in the acceleration programme and are excited to collaborate with new companies within the CIEC ecosystem.”
Kafka was born as a cooperative in the framework of the CIEC Madrid's 2023 incubation programme with the aim of co-leading a circular and just future, contributing innovative biotechnology, social inclusion and environmental responsibility.
Another important element of the training programmes is the inclusion of vulnerable groups to help ensure green employment opportunities that are accessible to all.
Space to experiment
The CIEC also serves as a research and innovation centre. The on-site FabLab provides access to cutting-edge computing and 3D printing equipment for companies to try out the latest techniques. There is also a specialised Nature-Based Solutions Lab to support green infrastructure in Madrid, including bioclimatic architecture, local food systems, composting innovations, and a climate change demonstration garden that showcases adaptive practices.
Bringing so many different people and companies together at the centre encourages the formation of networks and connections that might not otherwise happen.
Companies attending the centre often find collaborators, suppliers and business partners, as well as organisations that can re-use waste products. In the example of the coffee capsules, which are already made from recycled materials, a project is underway to deploy the used capsules and coffee to make good compost to improve gardens.
“We put those two start-ups together and introduced them to a foundation that employs people with diverse abilities and people at risk of social exclusion,” said Román Espino Gutiérrez, Communications Director at Eurostar Mediagroup and for the CIEC.
This is an example of how the Centre fosters “intricate connections” between products, companies, innovative ideas and social purpose, he added.
It also demonstrates how the CIEC is a valuable resource for residents, not just businesses. They can attend regular workshops and training sessions – including those designed specifically for children, teenagers, university students and women. Citizens also have access to the Centre’s 3D printing and computer design equipment.
The CIEC fosters 'intricate connections' between products, companies, innovative ideas and social purpose.
“People can come and use the machines for everyday purposes too,” said Martínez Muneta. “For example, if I have a chair that is broken, I don’t need to throw the chair out; I can make a small 3D-printed piece that could repair it.”
Real-world impact
The Centre tries to lead by example – turning plastic waste from its 3D printers into filament for printing, for instance. It also ensures that re-use practices are as sustainable as possible.
“One of the main features of the circular economy is that you re-use locally; you don’t take the waste 500 kilometres away,” said Sanabria Brassart.
So far, over 100 enterprises have benefited from mentoring and over 7,000 people have participated in training and awareness-raising sessions and in FabLab and Nature-Based Solutions Lab initiatives.
In the almost two years that the Centre has been open, it has supported 80 start-ups, and 30 companies have taken part in circularisation programmes.
This work is also having a tangible real-world impact. For example, start-ups report that they have secured almost €4 million in funding either during the programme or shortly after, and 23 patents have been approved. Further, almost 50% of the start-ups that have participated now operate in more than one country and they have generated 100 direct jobs. More than 46% of the CEOs of the start-ups that have worked with the Centre are women.
To build on this, the Centre’s latest projects include a pilot to measure and reduce carbon emissions related to staff commutes. Another is with the city’s IFEMA exhibition centre to help circularise its operations and events.
Sanabria Brassart highlights the wide reach of the Centre’s activities.
“The word we use is ecosystem – because of the connections that are made between entrepreneurs, start-ups, students, big companies and academia,” she said. “Even though it was one of the main goals of our project from the very beginning, we have been pleasantly surprised at the extent of the connections that are being made.”
“And we are proud of the numbers of people that are attending and that they are from very different backgrounds,” she added. “No one must be left behind in the digital and green transition that we are working towards achieving.”
