Interview: Patricia Astrain, Founder and CEO of recircular Spain

PATRICIA ASTRAIN, FOUNDER OF RECIRCULAR SPAIN

#SheLeadsTheChange

This week we interview Patricia Astrain, the founder and CEO of Recircular startup that is giving a second chance to waste. The award-winning platform gives a second life to companies’ waste and excess materials, helping to reduce costs for both waste management and the purchase of secondary raw materials, as well as creating a positive social and environmental impact. Patricia is an example of entrepreneurship and an inspiring advocate of the circular economy. We invite you to read her full interview and follow her revolution #BecauseWasteDoesNotExist.

• What is your project about and what do you love about it?  

At recircular we help businesses identify opportunities to give waste a second life generating economic savings and environmental and social benefits and automatizing the whole process with our digital platform. I love the fact that we are able to provide solutions to resources that used to end up in a landfill or incinerated; that we are able to prove that being environmentally and socially conscious doesn’t necessarily come at a cost, but that it can imply savings as well; and that we are able to democratise the access to circular opportunities for small businesses and social entities that wouldn’t otherwise have access to those. 

• How does contribute to improve the environment? 

 We save resources from being wasted and provide solutions for them to be used in other companies, substituting the need for virgin raw materials with these secondary ones. This fact has an important environmental impact and we measure it with our own Methodology for Impact Measurement with which we calculate indicators such as reduction of carbon and water footprint, reduction in energy demand and improvement of life expectancy. These indicators help us and our users understand the impact that they can generate by caring about their waste’s destiny.   

• What other women have inspired you in your career?  

I have always had in my family the example of strong, independent, hard-working and entrepreneurial women that have inspired me throughout my career. Now, in the circular economy world, I am lucky to count on the inspiration and support of amazing women leading the way towards a more sustainable and circular world. 

• What challenges have you face in your entrepreneurial journey that could help others? 

 I think all entrepreneurs face countless challenges, from regulation to financing, from achieving sales to building a team, … but there is one that I call the rollercoaster, which is how the life, or even just a day, of an entrepreneur looks like, with continuous ups and downs. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur and we have to know that this is not a sprint, but a marathon, and that we have to be ready to endure it. 

• What kind of support have you found helpful in advancing your career? 

I am lucky enough to have been selected to participate in several national and international acceleration programmes for entrepreneurs. This has given me access to experts and mentors, to other entrepreneurs, it has given me and recircular visibility and recognition. But if there is something that really helps us is to have access to those entities that are our potential clients.