Industry, Trade and Consumer Affairs authorities visit PROTISA
Today, Friday 17th November, PROTISA was honoured to receive the visit of Mr. Felipe Afonso El Jaber, Vice-Minister of Industry, Commerce and Consumption of the Canary Islands Government and Ms. Ana María Zurita Expósito, General Director of Industry.
This visit is a consequence of the recognition received by PROTISA as the best valued SME by Carrefour’s customers in its recent edition of PREMIOS PYME 2023.
During the tour of the more than 10,000 m2 plant in the Güimar Industrial Estate, the authorities were shown by Ms. Raquel Malo Serisa, General Manager of PROTISA, the production management system that has made the company a pioneer in the Canary Islands in the manufacture of sanitary articles from recovered paper and cellulose handling with FSC (Sustainable Forests) certification. A system designed to make maximum use of the ship’s energy, material and space resources with a global sustainable thinking, which turns its articles into ecologically responsible products.
Within its extensive catalogue aimed at the domestic and professional sectors, the Jumbo Multipurpose articles and the Aloe Vera hygiene pack, both from the Clean&Soft brand, have attracted the attention of the authorities. These 100% ecological articles are made from 100% recovered and 100% recyclable paper, thanks to their Kraft paper wrapping. Products that reduce the carbon footprint by up to 40% compared to others in the same range in cellulose and that have been on the Canary Islands market since 2021 and recently also on the Spanish mainland.
Throughout the day, Raquel Malo emphasised PROTISA’s commitment for more than 30 years to promoting the Circular Economy in the Canary Islands, not only by manufacturing products from recovered paper, but also by promoting a culture of sustainable consumption in society that makes people think about the use of resources, by investing in the strengthening of the industrial fabric of the archipelago with qualified and quality employment of young people from the islands, investing in R+D+I to reduce the carbon footprint, guaranteeing the supply of local products of primary need and working to reduce the negative impact on nature.
It should not go unnoticed that in addition to its productive activity, PROTISA has for years been running training programmes in educational centres to educate the youth of the Canary Islands about the “second life” of things.
The Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade and Consumer Affairs of the Canary Islands Government, Felipe Afonso Al Jaber, said that it is a “joy to see how industries in the Canary Islands become an example of sustainability and are able to create products that are examples and flags of the circular economy. It is a path that we must take advantage of to increase the capacity and autonomy of our economy and our environmental sustainability,” he stressed.
The Director General of Industry, Ana Zurita, stressed that with this visit to PROTISA, the only 100% recycled paper manufacturing company in the Canary Islands, “we have the opportunity to demonstrate the commitment of the Regional Ministry of Economy, Industry, Trade and the Self-Employed of the Canary Islands Government and, specifically, of the Directorate General of Industry, to the factors of sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental balance. All of these are factors in the competitiveness of companies”. Zurita pointed out that PROTISA is “an example of business growth under the parameters of sustainability and development of Circular Economy, a challenge that we believe should be a priority in the industrial development of the Canary Islands”. He added that “from the Directorate General for Industry, we are committed to our companies being socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. PROTISA is a success story. From companies of this type we must draw development guidelines in terms of innovation, digitisation and sustainability, the three pillars on which this Directorate General will base its fundamental action”.