Our country meets the objectives for recycling packaging, but the European Commission warns that it is far behind in materials such as aluminum or paper and that it must reduce what ends up in the landfill
On a continent where each inhabitant generates more than half a tonne of waste per year, a new line is to be drawn to ensure proper processing of this urban waste. By 2025, EU member countries must achieve recycling of 65% of packaging, 75% of paper, 70% of glass, 50% of plastics and aluminium and 25% of used wood.
The European Commission's latest 'early warning report' recognises that "most" countries have already implemented, or are in the process of implementing, reforms to achieve a "more circular approach and an increase" in reuse and recycling by that date.
Where is Spain? Recycling of packaging has increased 37-fold since 1998, when some 44.000 tonnes were recycled. Last year, more than 1,6 million tonnes of light household packaging (plastic, cans, cartons, paper and cardboard) were recycled, according to the latest data published by Ecoembes, with a growth of 3,6% compared to the previous period. Of this amount, 1,2 million had been deposited by people in yellow and blue containers on the street, and other bins of specific colours. Some 27 kilos per person of cans, cartons, paper, cardboard and plastic packaging each year.
With these figures, and a container every hundred metres and more than 56.000 coloured bins, Spain is one of the countries that is approaching the goal set by the new EU regulations for recycling packaging, according to European projections. Current recycling is 68%, according to the latest data, a percentage above what is stipulated for 15 months from now, and close to the 70% set for 2030, even though the total generation of packaging has a "substantial" increase of 4% in ten years in the EU. It is also on the right track in recycling glass, ferrous metals and wood.
Greater effort
However, Spain is still far from achieving its goals for waste as a whole. With around 420 kilos of waste per person per year (slightly below the European average), only a third of it is recycled, according to 2020 statistics, far from the 55% set by Europe for 2025. And more than half of the waste generated ends up in landfills, when what the new regulations will allow is a tenth.
With an increase in waste generation in recent years, the EU has included Spain in its list of potential non-compliance in the area of urban waste. Continental authorities warn that plastic is “the material in the most critical situation”, with 19 countries at risk of not meeting the recycling target. Continental authorities warn that “continuous improvement of separate collection remains essential to improve recycling results”.
«With an increase in waste generation in recent years, the EU includes Spain in its list of possible non-compliance with the urban waste as a whole»
Early warning report European Commission
The amount of waste that ends up in landfills should be steadily decreasing, but the trend has stagnated since 2017, with a quarter of urban waste accumulated without a destination in the EU as a whole in 2020. It is worrying that eleven countries still deposit more than half of their waste in these points, even without carrying out prior treatment, as required by the current directive.
Spain is also still far from the 10% target for 2035 (along with a dozen other countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovakia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania). “The deviation from the target deserves greater attention and requires the implementation of corrective measures,” says the European Commission. In ten years, recycling and reuse of urban waste increased from 37% to 47%, a hopeful figure although progress is “slow.” The final objective is “zero pollution.”
