Despite the fact that they are already a part of Spain’s urban landscape, despite the multiple and persistent awareness campaigns launched by governments for years and the warnings made by environmentalists from time to time, we cannot benefit from yellow containers. At least not as much as we should be. Recently, the Ministry of Ecological Transformation took out its calculator and concluded that 41.3% of plastic bottles released into the market in 2023 will be recovered for recycling. This leaves us far, far away from the 70 percent target.

Therefore, in its report warning about this gap, Miteco misses another idea: It is time to implement solutions and move to a deposit, refund and return (SDDR) system.

Two important figures. The data presented by the government in its latest report on the collection of single-use plastic bottles is devastating: we are far, far away from the recycling target we set for ourselves.

The study is quite comprehensive and at 55 pages Miteco details definitions, legislation, methodology and calculations; but there are two numbers that sum it up: 214,039 and 88,499. Both mean the same thing; “SUP bottles”; It is a label that we refer to beverage bottles made of plastic, disposable and up to three liters.

So what do these mean? The first figure corresponds to the number of tonnes of SUP bottles introduced to the Spanish market over the past year. The second is the amount of the same containers collected throughout 2023, both through yellow containers managed by local organizations and through special or complementary collections called “out of home” such as hospitals and residences. , sports centers or schools.

Comparing one figure with another, the result is clear: 41.3% of plastic bottles placed on the market are recovered for recycling. To be more precise, the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s report shows that 84,482 tonnes (39.5% of the total) arrived through the EEL management system, which it calls selective collection via locally managed containers (especially yellow). The remaining 14,017 (18.7%) came from supplementary and special routes.

Yellow Container Voltage. The data is not good. And there is no simple reason for this: as the Miteco report reminds us, this collection percentage of 41.3% falls well below the target set in Law 7/2022 for the circular economy, the text adapting a directive of the European Parliament. and the Council. The legislation is clear on this when talking about collection and recycling targets for SUP bottles.

70 percent of the tones offered to the market by the industry must be reached “by 2023 at the latest.” By 2025, this target increases to 77 percent, by 2027 it should be 75 percent, and by the end of the same decade, in 2029, 90 percent of all tons of single-use plastic bottles sold are aimed to be recycled. Considering these percentages, 41.3% in 2023 is inadequate.

What will we do then? The government’s report is interesting because it not only reveals how far we are from meeting our collection and recycling targets. The dossier goes further and misses an equally or even more important idea in its conclusion: given that Spain is behind on the road map on single-use plastic bottles, it’s time to resort to ‘Plan B’ and bet on it. philosophy of reuse. “A deposit, refund and return system needs to be implemented throughout the national territory and within two years,” he explains.

A not so new solution. Actually it’s nothing new. The legislation on the recycling of plastic bottles itself is already considering what to do if the intermediate targets set for 2023 and 2027 are not achieved: commissioning an SDDR system within two years, a term that may seem complex, but in reality it is very simple, as Airef recalls.

Essentially, when the customer buys the drink, they deposit a small amount of money in exchange for the bottle it contains and get it back when they return it, making it easier to reuse the container. And just as importantly, it prevents it from drifting onto the beach or into the ditch. Yes, a similar approach to the famous returnable beverage cap system used in Spain decades ago.

Ecoembes’ vision. There is another reason why the Miteco report attracted so much attention. Yours is not the first collection and recycling percentage we have had. Just a few days ago, Ecoembes, the organization responsible for managing the recycling of garbage accumulated in yellow and blue containers, assured Europa Press that its data was much more promising than those published by the Government. And most importantly, they fulfill the purpose stipulated in the law.

The chart is taken from the Ministry of Ecological Transition report.

Is there that much difference? Yes, the organization guarantees that in 2022 it selectively recovered 67.2% of plastic beverage bottles, and in 2023 this result is even better and reaches 73.4%. The organization also claims that its results are based on official and audited data from autonomous communities and waste managers, and that it uses methodology approved by Brussels.

The difference between the percentage of Miteco and Ecoembes is not small. Not only because of the significant distance between them. Depending on which one we use as reference, Spain may or may not reach the 70 percent target set for 2023.

What happens then? Ecoembes is clear on this. In the comments CountryHe cites a “technical inconsistency” that demonstrates the “urgent need” to agree on calculation rules. In his opinion, it is time to “officially and unequivocally clarify and consolidate by public authorities a measurement methodology that allows us to know once and for all the only possible way to calculate the bottle collection rate from now on.”

According to Ecoembes, the key to the differences between its data and Miteco’s data lies in bottles collected “outside the home”, that is, in hospitals, training centers or residences. “The rates do not match because the utility barely includes in its calculations quantities collected in high-traffic areas that represent more than 40% of the total bottles collected selectively in 2022 and 2023.”

“A new horizon”. In its report, Miteco makes a clear distinction between packaging collected through “EELL management” carried out by local organizations and what it calls “special collections”. However, the latter is much lower than the former and is well below the 40% mentioned by Ecoembes. The ministry attributes to them just over 14,000 tons of the total 88,000 tons. Greenpeace and Ecologists in Action talk about Ecoembes’ “inefficiency” and “lie”.

“A new horizon is opening and consumers will finally be able to return ‘helmets’ (plastic bottles, cans and bricks) within a two-year period. New recycling and reuse rates will be achieved,” the ecologists claimed. Reminding that this system “worked throughout the country” until the 1980s, Eylem said, “It was phased out by the beverage production and distribution sector in order to save costs.”

Pictures | Daniel Lobo (Flickr), Alvizlo (Flickr) and Miteco

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