The collection of plastic bottles remains at 41.3%, which leads to the implementation of a deposit and return system

The separate collection of single-use plastic bottles in 2023 has remained at 41.3% by weight compared to that introduced into the market, far from the 70% objective set by the Waste Law for this year. Therefore, it will be necessary to implement a deposit, refund and return system (SDDR) throughout the national territory and within two years.

This is the conclusion reached in the report published by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), to which Europa Press has had access. Specifically, the text has detailed that the total number of single-use plastic bottles that have been put on sale this year in Spain has amounted to 214,039 tons.

Of these, the agency has estimated that local entities have separately collected a total of 74,482 tons. To this it has added to the 14,017 tons of bottles of this type that it has estimated have been collected privately/complementarily.

For its part, Ecoembes has indicated in a statement sent to Europa Press that it selectively recovered 67.2% of plastic beverage bottles in 2022 and in 2023, 73.4%data that has been obtained through official audited data from the different autonomous communities and waste managers and thanks to a methodology contemplated in implementation decision 2021/1752 of the European Commission regarding weight, sampling, registration and composition analysis of this waste category.

The waste that is collected selectively comes from two origins: the yellow containers on the streets, which are managed by the municipalities and reported by the public administrations themselves; and those located in high-traffic facilities, which are managed by private entities such as sports centers, universities, hospitals, stations, airports, etc.

Ecoembes maintains that the rates do not coincide because the public body barely incorporates in its calculation the quantities collected in high-traffic areas and which represent more than 40% of the total bottles selectively collected in 2022 and 2023.

Figures that “were not true”

Greenpeace has highlighted that the figure in the report is “very close” to that of a investigation which they did together with Eunomia Research & Consulting, an international consulting firm that works with Brussels (Belgium).

In statements to Europa Press, Greenpeace spokesperson Julio Barea has admitted that they are “satisfied” since they have ended up being “right” that the data “was what it was” and that Ecoembes was offering figures that “were not true”. Therefore, he has referred to the legislation and stressed that measures such as the SDDR must be implemented.

Ecologistas en Acción has made reference to the same report, which in its opinion “took a very good picture” of the situation. In statements to Europa Press, the person responsible for the waste area at the confederal level of the organization, Carlos Arribashas referred to see how the distribution and packaging production sectors, as well as the production of beverages, react, since in his opinion “they have to get their act together” so that the SDDR can be implemented in two years as is. as it is in the regulations.

For its part, Alianza Verde has emphasized that The data in the report is “devastating” and has indicated that they confirm that “The Ecoembes monopoly is a failure and that it is necessary to implement a collection system “to solve this serious problem.”

The training coordinator, Juantxo López Uraldehas celebrated that “finally, and after a lot of work” it has been possible to take “this step forward to launch the SDDR. “Although it will not be easy, because it has taken a lot to get here, we are going to continue fighting to overcome the obstacles in the implementation of this system, in the face of the monopoly of the lobby of Ecoembes”, he has advanced.