“When you enter here, you think:” Oysters, here a woman does get where she wants “.” The one who speaks is Carolina Viana, 47 -year -old engineerand with “here” it refers to the halls of the headquarters of Ecoembes, in Chamartín (Madrid), where the offices and projects are full women. She joined the Innovation Directorate three years ago, where the Smart Waste project leads. Its function is to apply toe technology (such as AI or robotics) in the waste management process to make it smarter. Therefore, their working days take place between the office and the selection plants that receive our garbage, where it studies the installation of sensors and other latest generation systems.
“You would be surprised to see how many women work in the separation of waste into plants,” he says; Out of them, the same thing happens ». The Ecoembes template is composed of women in 60% and 40% of men, which is new to Viana. Before he worked in engineering consulting applied to the production of cars and aeronautics. «There we were rare. I was twenty -five years old when I launched my first factories; It was a young girl surrounded by operators, managers, managers … I was the only woman». Over time, Ecoembes looked for her to apply her knowledge of technological optimization to the classification of waste and the first thing that surprised her was the number of women working in the company.
Viana is part of a template of about 180 people, which in 2024 experienced an increase of 14%. Despite this growth, the 60-40 parity criteria between women and men remained. By hierarchical level, the number of men remains greater than their global representation in management positions, which they occupy in 74%, while The Board of Directors consists of 70% of women. In addition, gender percentage has been balanced in coordination controls between 2020 (53% were men) and 2023 (56% are women).
“It is a pride to be in a company where the positions of responsibility are played by women in a high percentage, and where there is no perception that because they can look you in another way,” he values Manuela Quices43, which has been in the company. She is an agronomist and companion of Viana in the Innovation Department, although her work is more focused on helping public entities to efficient their management, for example, optimizing the container collection service.
«It is very motivating to see that in your company you bet on womenand that we can perform our work and positions of responsibility in the same conditions as men without being imposed, but has been given organically, ”he says. “In Ecoembes, conciliation is greatly taken care of, the adaptation of the days to flexible schedule and the teleworking,” he lists, “and that has helped a lot to preserve female talent. It has also helped the fact that it is an environment where the employee is trusted and does not work at the old way: the teams are not stately and the projects are transversal, so you work with many companions from different areas, so that any person of the company can opt for a leadership post ».
One of those responsible for the work environment to favor this exchange is Teresa Gallastegui (47 years), who joined Ecoembes 11 years ago, where he directs people and organization. “We are 100% of women dedicated to HR (recruitment, training, payrolls, etc.) and the work environment, which has to do with the company’s culture, conciliation policies and environmental and social purposes,” he explains. For her “the fact that best reflects that there is possibility of growing in the company is that 71% of the women of the Management Committee have been internally promoted,” he says.
«But, of all this, nothing has been wanted; It is born from a true commitment to talent, regardless of gender. We have never had the need to boost quotas Because we have always had data that reflect that equality. We have promoted talent and female leadership programs, with the idea of training our workers for positions of greater responsibility because, in the business sector, the professional career of men has been promoted more; Sometimes because people in positions of responsibility had biases, ”he identifies.
The mechanisms implemented “have helped to match things, but policies without culture do not work,” says Gallastegui. «The key has been to promote a business culture that takes care of its talent and that, in addition, looks for different equipment, with different visions and profiles in terms of genres, ages, nationalities … I think that if a company wants to grow and be innovative, it cannot bet on endogamic profiles. Studies prove that diversity enriches; I see it in the projects, for how ideas and products are expanded, ”he says.
Esther Olmos (45 years) has been 23 in Ecoembes. Since 2016, he has been working in the data office, where he “shaped” the millions of information units generated in the company’s areas. From there he has witnessed how the workforce and organization grew: «I have seen a lot of change in the operation; In the end I lead here a lifetime, and the truth is that there have always been more women, ”he warns.
“The pure strategy of the organization is leading from our office,” explains the Bachelor of Environmental Sciences, and for her, “a pride to be a reference; Let us be a reflection of all the work, decision and vision capacity that women havenot only in our area, but throughout the company. We have a financial director, a marketing and communication director, a director of Labor Relations … The female talent is not only at the technical level, but also in the highest positions. And, well, our CEO is a woman.
Rosa wheatCEO, assumed the commanders of Ecoembes in 2023. Since then it has endorsed the “responsibility to ensure that each voice is heard, and all potential, recognized.” In the company, he emphasizes, «we believe that talent has no gender and that equal conditions not only enriches us, but strengthens us. – That’s why, we have always promoted female talent. This commitment translates into our current equality plan since 2018 and the second equality plan (2022-2026), which ensures opportunities for each team member ». The final message, for her, is clear: “We must bet on women because our vision is essential to design a world of future, more sustainable, circular and equitable.”