Absolute failure of recycling in our country. An alliance of 26 organizations has filed a complaint against Spain with the European Commission for not complying with the community’s target of waste reuse and recycling. As they guarantee, it will be limited to 24.3% of everything produced, while by 2020 it should already be 50%.. They also condemn the transport of 11 million tons of waste annually to landfills, the equivalent of 800 football fields or one kilo per citizen per day.
As representatives of Ecologytas en Acción, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth condemned at a press conference in Madrid, “Waste management does not work in Spain”led them to submit the complaint to the European Commission last Monday.
Spokespersons for the complaining organizations said: “We have spent years denouncing non-compliance, very low recycling rates in quality and quantity, zero prevention and reuse policies, the passing of late guidelines and non-complied laws.” A press conference.
“The EC has no choice but to open a case in Spain and take it to the European Court of Justice,” said Carlos Arribas, responsible for waste at Ecologistas en Acción. some autonomous communities do better.
According to the complaining organizations, “Waste management in Spain need an urgent change of courseThey requested protection from the EC with the complaint that “for the change to take place definitively”.
Because “if nothing changes, with no disruptive policies on the horizon, they will continue to fail”, because data “destructive”According to Arribas.
Recycling figures
remembered in 2020 Spain achieved only 40.5 percent of reuse and recycling; this index deteriorated further the following year, falling to 36.7%.According to Eurostat data.
Also, it will not be possible to count biostabilized waste as recycled very soon, so The reality is that only a quarter of waste, or 24.3%, is recycled”It has detailed Arribas.
In Spain, European directives have spent “years condemning these violations” with “late and existing laws not being complied with” and “very low recycling rates in terms of quality and quantity, zero prevention and reuse policies”.
According to the data provided, the Ministry of Environment plans to reach a recycling rate of 55% in 2025 and 60% in 2030.
Only 20% of the population sorts garbage
In addition, Arribas notes that only 20% of the population sorts waste and Mix and collect 80% waste without separating itIt’s a situation that “needs to change”.
In the same way, he stated that 80% of the garbage reaches the storage areas in mixed form and demanded that all municipalities increase the number of containers for waste sorting.
Miquel Roset, Director of Return, said that “11 million tons of waste annually, equivalent to 800 football stadiums or 1 kilo of garbage per citizen per day, is transferred to landfills” in Spain, full of landfills, polluted natural environments and the health of people at risk.
It’s a “distress call” Eva Saldaña, director of Greenpeace, warned of a situation that “has been stagnant for years and is getting worse rather than better”.
Prior to the presentation of the Royal Decree on packaging on 27 December, Saldaña “”very ambitious” the Popular Party’s (PP) goals of prevention, reuse and recycling discussed in Parliament.
According to Saldaña, this “tactic of blocking any progress” does not allow us to rely on compliance with the Waste Law and other regulations.
Demand for real solutions and concessions
Blanca Rubial, coordinator of Friends of the Earth, brought up solutions and demanded that the Government implement commitments and real solutions that are seen as key solutions by reducing waste generation.
In the same way, to end the discharge without purification by separating the organic wastes permanently and to extend the life of the products by setting standards for the companies for this purpose.
In addition, Rubial has demanded to encourage reuse and “to prevent waste from being transported to southern countries, because this is a matter of global justice” and reminded that compliance with the regulations is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Claimant organizations include environmental NGOs from all over the State and organizations from the Balearic Islands, Navarra, the Basque Country, Catalonia, the Canary Islands or Galicia.
Organizations: Climate Action, Adacis, Friends of Earth, CEPA, Clean Ocean Project, Ecologists in Action, Catalan Zero Residue Strategy (ECRZ), Eguzki Zaleak, Ekologistak Martxan, Federació d’Associacions de Veïns de Barcelona (FAVB), Federation of Ecologists of Catalonia, Fundació Deixalles, GOB Mallorca, Greenpeace, Gurasos, Itsas Gela, Lurra Nafarroa, Mar de Fábula, Per la Mar Viva, Red Ecofeminista, Returns, Rezero, Surfrider, Sustrai Erakuntza, Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) and Verdegaia.
Full report: https://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/informe-recircula.pdf
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]