ACR+ was one of the 45 participants who attended the LIFE BIOBEST capacity building workshop, on 25 October in Barcelona. , to learn from and expand upon best practices for efficient municipal bio-waste separate collection systems.

During the workshop, participants delved into insights from Catalonia, where speakers shared their experiences in crafting and enhancing municipal biowaste systems tailored to their unique local contexts. 

Here are a few inspirational stories from the field:

• The municipality of Argentona implemented a successful PAYT DtD collection system by introducing a frequent collection of separately sorted streams. The PAYT system has been implemented using on a bag system: based on the size of the household, the family receives a certain number of bags that they can use yearly. If they need more, they need to pay a high fee per bag.
• The small start-up Bumerang introduced a reusable packaging by teaming with different HORECA actors such as canteens and restaurants. The HORECA actors propose the Bumerang bowls and coffee cups to the clients who wants to take away their food and beverage. The client can then use the items, which are registered with a QR code, and must give them back within 2 weeks to avoid any fees.
• The food bank of Mercabarna, a wholesaler food centre, prevents any unsold food to go to waste. This new facility is a public and private partnership between many actors, among others, the Red Cross and the Food Bank of Barcelona. 

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