Some towns in Spain promise that all the paper and board they collect will be recycled in Spanish or European paper mills.
The declared commitment of Fuenlabrada town council and of the Association of Municipalities of the Costa del Sol are two good examples to demonstrate that the recent amendment to the Spanish Waste Act, which promotes recycling ‘made in Europe’, is beginning to bear fruit.
Fuenlabrada town council has recently unanimously approved a proposal in which it commits to recycling ‘made in Europe’ and pledges that all the paper and board collected in the town will be recycled in Spanish or European paper mills. Fuenlabrada, with a population of over 200,000, is one of the largest towns in the Greater Madrid area and also has one of the youngest populations of all Spanish cities.
On a similar note, the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol has included a pioneer requirement in its new contract for paper and board collection services that the concessionaire delivers all waste paper and board it collects to a paper mill within the European Union and also submits supporting documents to guarantee traceability of that waste. The Association provides services such as separate paper and board collection to almost 460,000 inhabitants in the province of Malaga.
The possibility of prioritising recycling within the European Union was set down for the first time in Spanish legislation for town councils through the 2011 Waste Act, and in November 2012, an amendment was included in the Law that extends the possibility of championing recycling ‘made in Europe’ to all producers or initial holders of recyclable waste.
