Every day in Spain, tens of millions of beverage containers and packaging waste drift through communities, risking pollution and health hazards. The scene is a landscape of cans, bottles and bricks that litter streets and landscapes, drawing attention from dozens of non-governmental organizations that urge action from government authorities who they say have delayed effective solutions.
As the year closes, it marks one year since the Royal Decree on Packaging introduced a new regulatory framework. Environmental advocates welcomed the decree for its ambitious goals on prevention, reuse, separate collection and recycling of cans, bottles and cartons.
Yet, a year on, a coalition of civil associations argues that the current text and the Waste Law approved by Parliament in April 2022 are on a path to obsolescence. They request the new government under Pedro Sánchez to break the pattern of inaction and ensure the measures already enacted are implemented with strict transparency.
Return packaging to the shelves
In line with this objective, seventy-four organizations across Spain submitted a joint manifesto urging the new Sánchez administration to fully develop the Waste Law and the Royal Decree. Their aim is for reuse and the return of cans, bottles and cartons in stores to become a reality across the country as soon as possible.
The manifesto highlights the need for continued use of reuse targets and the deployment of new technologies. It calls for a deposit and refund system for cans, bottles and cartons, modeled after similar schemes in several European countries. The authors claim that such a system could enable over 90% of containers to be reused or converted into new cans, bottles and beverage cartons when properly implemented. A working document details this expectation.
Lack of efficiency and transparency
Despite the data presented by signatory groups, social and environmental organizations, experts and public administrations acknowledge gaps in the current management of packaging waste. The impression is that neither the autonomous communities nor the provincial authorities have taken the steps needed to fully apply the Packaging Law and the Royal Decree.
Reuse targets and the separate collection of plastic beverage bottles under three liters, set for 2023, appear at risk of automatic backtracking if progress stalls. The year ends with unclear information about whether autonomous communities track collected bottles by the required methodology, whether manufacturers report the bottles they put on the market, and whether oversight bodies ensure impartiality and transparency in the process.
The supporters of the deposit approach argue that it ensures full accountability for manufacturers, supermarkets and deposit-box managers, driving higher rates of reuse and recycling while preventing ongoing waste. They point to the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which is expected to make such a deposit system mandatory for all member states starting January 1, 2028.
Zero waste philosophy
The European Community proposal envisions a common deposit system primarily for single use plastic bottles and metal containers up to three liters. States may add single-use glass bottles if they can meet the same standard. Reusable glass bottles offer an alternative that aligns with the same objective.
After decades of work to curb the contamination from disposable beverage containers, the seventy-four organizations insist that the Sánchez administration meet reuse targets and demonstrate a credible path to a cleaner circular economy. They argue that making packaging a model of sustainable practice can create green jobs while protecting human health and the broader ecosystem.
Data from Ecoembes show that in 2022, about 1,627,313 tons of plastic containers, cans, cardboard and paper were sent to recycling facilities, a rise of roughly 3.6 percent from the prior year. More than 1.2 million tons of recycled packaging came from materials sorted by citizens in yellow and blue bins in public spaces and dense urban areas. Yet the signatories insist that more progress is needed and that Spain still buries, burns or loses a vast amount of cans, bottles and cartons every day.
The manifesto advocates for waste prevention, conscious consumption, the right to returnable packaging, and the efficient management of organic matter, among other measures. It presents a vision of a circular economy where reuse is the norm and where packaging flows are designed for long life, reuse, and responsible disposal.
Manifesto note: a full text of the document exists in a signed, accessible form and has been documented by the signatories for reference.
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The environmental department’s contact details referenced in the public document have been omitted in this rewrite to preserve privacy and focus on the policy discussion.