- e-distribución, Endesa's distribution subsidiary, recycles around 98% of the waste generated by the grid, an example of its commitment to the circular economy and the use of materials.
- It aims to reuse, whether in full or in part, the maximum amount of waste material generated during the construction, maintenance and improvement of the infrastructure or process it at specialist centres to recover or transform it, offering it a different use.
Endesa gave around 98% of the waste generated by its distribution network over the past year a second life. More than 40,000 tonnes of materials were processed as part of the continuous construction, maintenance and improvement of the electricity grid managed by its subsidiary, e-distribución. The company's assets include approximately 315,000 kilometres of power lines, equivalent to eight times the circumference of the Earth.
The constant improvement of such an extensive grid inevitably generates waste; however, the concept of waste disappears when the materials are given a second life. Currently, almost all recoverable waste from Endesa's distribution grid is already reused and employed in line with the principles of the circular economy.
Through authorised waste managers, the best treatments are implemented to recover and transform waste with a view to maximising its recovery and returning it to the production and consumption cycle.
Specifically, metallic material is recovered from grid equipment, batteries and accumulators; the mineral oils used at electric substations are regenerated or given a second use; and the metals and metal compounds of electrical wiring are recycled or recovered.
When selecting the waste to be recovered, it is also divided into special or non-special. Special waste is considered as insulating oil and emulsions of water and oil from transformers, for example, of which around 90 % can be recycled; while non-special waste includes but is not limited to scrap, insulators, debris, electrical wiring, concrete posts, paper and plastics, almost 100% of which is recycled.
This careful, specialist waste management is performed in line with Endesa's Environmental Policy, which is particularly noteworthy on account of its clear commitment to sustainability throughout the entire value chain. In particular, electricity distribution activities are performed under the umbrella of a management system based on ISO 14001, with certification obtained in 2004, guaranteeing excellence in environmental management and continuous improvement of processes. Efforts are being made to progressively reduce the consumption of resources and reduce the impact on the environment where the company's production activities are carried out.
This commitment has helped Endesa to obtain the AENOR "Zero Waste" certificate for the waste generated in 2019 as part of the activities performed by e-distribución in Aragon, Castile and León and Galicia. This is the first time that an electricity distributor in Spain has received this type of certification, which recognises organisations that are committed to sustainability when undertaking their activity and that recover more than 90% of the waste they generate, thus preventing it from ending up in landfill.
In 2017, Endesa signed up to the Pact for a Circular Economy promoted by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, with a view to replacing a linear economy based on extracting, producing, consuming and disposing, with a circular economy in which materials are reduced, reused or recycled to reincorporate them into the production process, as well as reducing or even, insofar as possible, eliminating the production of waste. In short, it is about recovering waste and going a step further in the way it is managed.
About Endesa
Endesa is the largest electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. Endesa operates an end-to-end business from generation to marketing and through Endesa X also offers value-added services aimed at the decarbonisation of energy uses in homes, companies, industries and public administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and therefore strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the electrification of the economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. The Endesa Foundation is also active in this last area. Our team totals about 9,600 people. Endesa is a division of Enel, Europe’s largest electricity group.