Over two days, the International Lubricant Recycling Summit, organised by the Ecuadorian Lubricants Association (APEL) and RECOIL, provided a forum for dialogue and the exchange of experiences among public authorities, collective Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, lubricant manufacturers and importers, waste managers, recovery companies, technology providers, multilateral bodies, sector associations, academic representatives, and industry leaders from different countries.

In this context, Ainhöa Lizarbe, Director of Institutional Relations and Communication at SIGAUS, delivered the presentation “Industrial waste oils. An example of the circular economy”, in which she set out the success story of 20 years of managing this waste in Spain and of how SIGAUS, which has been making this possible since 2007, operates.

The speech explained SIGAUS’s management model, which is based on extended producer responsibility and under which the system guarantees and funds the collection and proper treatment of waste generated by the industrial oils marketed by its 250 participating companies, which represent 90% of the lubricants market. Within this framework, SIGAUS organises an extensive value chain that links the participating companies, the points of generation of waste oil, and the waste managers and waste management companies that treat the waste, all under the supervision of the public authorities.

The experience accumulated since 2007 also reflects the potential of waste oil management as an example of the circular economy. In two decades of activity, SIGAUS has managed 2.6 million tonnes of waste oil and allocated 1.8 million tonnes to regeneration, helping to avoid 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ and to save 23,338 GWh of energy.

Traceability was another topic covered in the presentation, which highlighted the functions of the SIGAUS Technological Information System, a system that centralises information on both the placing on the market of industrial oils and the various waste management operations, thereby providing rigorous control. The transparency of this system is embodied in the Waste Oil Observatory, a digital platform featuring interactive maps that integrate geospatial technology, allowing users to see and understand how industrial waste oil is generated and managed in Spain.

The event also provided first-hand knowledge of progress in managing used lubricating oils in various countries, especially in Latin America, and a chance to share the challenges arising from different regulatory, operational and socioeconomic realities. The Summit also demonstrated the existing commitment to keep advancing towards more circular models through knowledge, investment, technology and outreach, as well as the international interest in the model and the experience SIGAUS has accumulated over its 20 years of activity.