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Date Published: 28/11/2024

Spain embraces money-back system to tackle plastic pollution

By 2026, Spain will join other European countries by adopting a ‘deposit, return and refund’ system for plastic bottles

In a move that’s certainly better late than never, the Spanish Government has announced plans to revive a scheme that's been a staple of environmentally conscious countries for years: the ‘deposit, return and refund’ system for single-use plastic bottles.

This innovative approach is set to revolutionise the way Spain tackles plastic pollution, and it's about time.

For decades, conservation groups in Spain have been advocating for a more effective way to recycle plastic bottles. The current system, which relies on separate collection and recycling, has fallen short of its goals. In 2023, a staggering 60% of plastic bottles weren't properly disposed of, leaving a significant amount of waste to pollute the environment.

These figures are likely to improve since Spain introduced non-detachable bottle caps, and the government’s plan to drastically increase rubbish collection charges in 2025 will also have an impact, but there’s always more to be done.

The new system, set to be implemented by 2026, is a modern take on the traditional ‘return the empties’ system for glass bottles, where consumers pay a small deposit when purchasing a packaged product and receive a refund when they return the empty container.

This approach has been a game-changer in countries like Germany, where it's increased recycling rates exponentially.

According to a recent report by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco), current recycling practices in Spain are woefully inadequate. In 2023, only 41.3% of single-use plastic bottles were collected, falling short of the 70% target set by the Waste Law.

Furthermore, the report reveals that more than 214,000 tonnes of plastic bottles entered the market, with only a fraction being collected separately from regular household rubbish by local authorities and private companies.

While Spain may be coming a little late to the party, the Government's eventual decision to implement the ‘deposit, return and refund’ system is seen as a major win for environmental groups like Greenpeace, who have been campaigning for this change for more than 15 years.

This system, labelled “a historic victory” for the environment, has the potential to significantly reduce plastic pollution and increase recycling rates, making it a crucial step towards a more sustainable future.

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Image: Retorna

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