At one end of the Tambre industrial estate, in Santiago de Compostela, there is a very modern car scrapyard.The ship does not attract much attention from the outside.Inside, there is no high-tech machinery either.Its avant-garde lies in the business model.Trameve, the name of this special employment center, enlists people with disabilities in its workforce and manages waste such as motor oil or brake fluids responsibly.The work that this leading company has been carrying out for 30 years in a traditional business today already has a name, or rather a surname: inclusive circular economy.It is about providing a social approach to the production model that takes advantage of waste, extends the life of products and reduces the consumption of raw materials.Trameve employs people with physical disabilities in the same way that other companies governed by sustainability do with young people at risk of social exclusion, people with intellectual or sensory disabilities.They take care of the planet and the vulnerable people who inhabit it.An opportunity opens up so that respect for the environment is linked to social inclusion.Daniel-Aníbal García, Finance Secretary of the Spanish Confederation of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities (Cocemfe), warns of the importance of not leaving anyone out of this new production model, as revolutionary as the Industrial Revolution.“Since the circular economy is sustainable, it may seem that it will also be governed by social criteria.But no, it's not always like that,” he says.“You have to incorporate these groups from the beginning.If we are not present in this new economy, the existing gap between people with disabilities and the rest is going to widen," says García, who points to the continuous training of this group and the training courses given by companies as the best tool so that no worker is left behind."People with disabilities are pigeonholed into activities with little added value, which are still productive and very dignified, but you have to think that they can occupy any position in a company, from the owner down," he adds.These are some examples of entities or special employment centers whose business model is based on the inclusive circular economy.The accompaniment and training does not stop at Trameve, a special employment center (CEE).These types of companies have at least 70% of people with disabilities in their workforce.They provide productive, paid employment adapted to the characteristics of these workers.Its ultimate objective is to facilitate the labor integration of these vulnerable groups in what is known as the ordinary labor market, as opposed to the protected one, that of the CEE.Luis Penido, its manager, points out the training that has been given at the scrapyard."At the time it was internationalization," he explains, referring to the computer improvement that led them to sell in the United Kingdom, France, Portugal or Morocco."We jumped on the digitization bandwagon and prepared the workers for it," says the manager of this scrapyard, which employs 15 people with disabilities and has 100,000 spare parts classified and advertised on its website."Otherwise you are left with very basic profiles," says Penido."Now we are giving training in the handling of electric car batteries," he details.Today it is the air conditioning gases that must be treated properly so that they do not contaminate.Tomorrow it will be lithium batteries.Víctor Sangiao works as a clerk at Trameve, where he manages some of the 11,500 sales that are made each year.He completed a 10-month mechanics course in Majadahonda (Madrid), which led him to join the scrapyard 15 years ago.“I have always loved the automotive industry.My initial idea was not to work in administration, but over time I have adapted very well.The important thing was to join the labor market,” says Sangiao, who suffered the amputation of his leg at the level of the femur 21 years ago.This Pontevedra manages the casualties of vehicles that are going to be scrapped to take advantage of some of the parts that are still in good condition and turn them into spare parts.He also keeps track of polluting waste such as motor oil.“In job interviews we look at what these people can do, not what they can't.In their abilities, not in their disability”, says Penido, who has been with Trameve since 1997. Eight employees with disabilities have made the leap to conventional companies, the ultimate goal of this special employment center.The drawers at home are not the right place to accumulate old phones.The storage room is also not suitable for storage.Fundación Repsol and Ilunion have created the company Recycling4all to manage waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) on a large scale.Materials such as iron, copper, aluminum or rare earths are extracted from its treatment so that they can be used again in other devices or for other functions.They are also working to extend their activity to the recycling of photovoltaic solar plates and panels.The citizen can take any small device to stores selling electrical appliances or also deposit any type of WEEE, large or small, in a clean point.Recycling4all not only promotes the circular economy but also promotes labor inclusion, by generating employment opportunities for 111 people with disabilities, 66% of its workforce.They have 12 centers, two of which are waste treatment plants.The others are used for temporary storage of WEEE.The waste treatment plants are located in Campo Real (Madrid) and La Bañeza (León).The latter employs 60 people with disabilities (87% of the workforce) in a rural setting, where this group has more difficulty finding employment.Pedro Antonio Martín, general director of Ilunion Reciclados, points out that at Recycling4all they have a support unit to accompany workers at all times and assess whether adaptations are needed in the jobs with which to ensure their correct professional development."We also take care of relationships between colleagues, we even extrapolate the accompaniment to the family environment in case it is necessary," he says.“We cannot waste the talent of these people.We all have to make an effort to make it visible”, he insists.Martín points out that accessibility and a training base are essential so that people with disabilities are not left behind with the arrival of the unstoppable digitization."I am convinced that the courage of people will always be needed," he says.With business criteria based on sustainability but without neglecting profitability and its humanistic vision, this Fundación Repsol and Ilunion initiative is another new example of the modern inclusive circular economy.If the business of selling second-hand spare parts and recovering electronic components are classic examples of reuse, the work undertaken by the Rubricatus Foundation in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona) is more innovative.They turn leftover fabrics donated by a multinational into tote bags (resistant bags with long handles and no top closure) and throwaway headphones into lanyards (the cord with which the identifications of those attending fairs or company events are hung) .Raúl Punzano, industrial technician, is one of its managers.He is in charge of monitoring the processes and launching new inclusive circular economy initiatives.The Rubricatus Foundation employs 220 employees, of which 125 have intellectual disabilities.They also manage a catering and provide employees for the wardrobe or the delivery of accreditations at events.“Waste generates opportunities.They are a nutrient, a raw material”, says Punzano.“We are an entity that is very up-to-date,” he explains.A phrase that he repeats several times to remember that the waste recovery activities they carry out are the present because if they leave it for the future it will be too late.They offer training in cutting, sewing and pattern making –training again– to turn scraps into finished products, to transform company conventions into sustainable events."We rent the lanyards that we have made with used headphones," says Punzado, who has completed a postgraduate degree in Circular Economy at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).To the recovery of the hulls they add the reuse through the rental system and not the sale system and the reduction due to the saving of materials.When they stop serving they will be recycled.They accumulate rs, an indicator of circularity.The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge included the initiative of reusable lanyards in a list of 42 good circular economy practices.Punzano is now focused on food waste.The Foundation prepares and delivers 150 menus a day to elderly people with mobility difficulties in El Prat de Llobregat.The next step is to reach an agreement with Mercabarna so that they donate pieces of fruit and other foods that are not sold due to their appearance.A different case of circular economy managed by the workers themselves."We also want to create a reusable container called boc and roll," says this enthusiast who is linking initiatives.It refers to an elongated cloth bag, a way for children to take the sandwich to school without having to use a disposable wrapper every day.The La Kalle association created the ReutilK initiative in two neighborhoods of Madrid, which trains young people who have dropped out of school or migrants who have just arrived in Spain in reconditioning computers.The three-month degree they offer is called Microcomputer Systems Technician.Large companies donate their old equipment to this association, which increases their memory or changes their battery and sells them at a low price to families with few resources or to NGOs.Juan Flores, coordinator of ReutilizaK, stands in the way of those computers that were destined for the recycling point, which translates into training and employment for "young people left behind in the educational system or migrants with language difficulties who have just landed."The association was formed 35 years ago and operates from Vallecas and Villaverde.It has two young people hired in the equipment conditioning area, helped by other interns who have completed the training."These are accompanied jobs," explains Flores.They enhance social skills, reactivate their motivation and teach them skills in the workplace beyond technical skills.They prepare them to work in La Kalle or in any conventional company.They restore their self-esteem, the beginning of everything.Or subscribe to read without limitsSubscribe and read without limits