what end?
More than fifteen years after Spain began in the collection of urban waste , the recycling of materials
presents disparate levels of success. Do you recycle?, What is the balance?, Do you accept citizenship?, Is not it better
reuse and reduce to recycle? Any evaluation requires nuance. The
collection of glass, paper and cardboard has more than acceptable results, in Catalunya than 55% of total consumption. Instead, recycling of household plastic packaging - initiated in the late nineties, is the weakest point of management. The recovery
organic fraction of waste is only incipient (though it has taken a big leap in Barcelona), and there are few initiatives to prevent the generation of municipal waste, whose relentless rise has only stopped the crisis.
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DEPTH Environment and Sustainability
Citizens are increasingly active in the collection. They know that the use of materials slows the depletion of natural resources (like oil) and creating wealth in the recycling industry. However, a figure illustrates the main shortcoming: only one of every four recycled household plastic containers, 26% (2008), as Cicloplast, bringing together manufacturers and recyclers.
Yel
result is that some people doubt that it is meeting the EU directive. The EU forced to reach a recycling rate of plastic packaging from 22.5% in 2008 (including domestic, commercial and industrial), and this year saw a 24.5% rate, according to the Ministry of Environment. A pass by the hair. Thus, the Fundació per a la dels Residus Prevenció judged that this percentage could be lower if you look at the recycling net (not gross), ie counting the material that leaves the recycling plant.
What's wrong? Why so few are recycled domestic plastic packaging?
Citizens
, waste management
many reasons that little recycling and a double contradiction sums it up. The system's success hinges on the degree of citizen involvement in carrying the container in the yellow container (plastic, cartons and cans), but, however, no obstacle to the invasion of new disposable containers . However much you try separation, more and more types of plastics that make the task of citizens as "waste managers." Every incentive and encouragement to support this effort (sometimes there is physical space in the kitchen) and instead remain leeway to put on the market packages with many different types, sizes, shapes and volumes, and plastics made from mixed materials, which complicates the future of segregation and recycling. Missing
yellow containers
Given these results, lack of awareness campaigns (although have been many) and more yellow containers are needed in many places in Spain. "Some governments do not provide the source separation. In Valencia, as in many cities, two miles from where we are, there is not a container for packaging light yellow, or blue for paper and cardboard," says a neighbor of Valencia.
Materials
poorly selected container in the yellow light should be placed containers (plastic, cartons and cans). However, 30% of the materials are poorly selected (improper), although this percentage is only 24% in Catalonia, according Cicloplast. "We need more campaigns to improve the quality of what they learned, too accidentally found in the yellow cardboard," said Teresa Martinez, director general of Cicloplast. In the yellow bin mistakenly deposited glass, paper, videotape, or textiles. Poor separation complicate the task in sorting plants.
Gaps in plants selection
selecting plants and plastic containers - where is the yellow container loading are becoming more modern and separated by several different procedures and plastic containers so they can be reused. But for more screens and filters that are made, they are unable to cope with the huge amount of different plastics that end up here. There are all types, sizes, shapes and volumes - bottles, plates, trays ...-, making it difficult to correct segregation. "We must improve the automation of plants," says Teresa Martinez.
Reductions in recycling plants
Between 15% and 30% of material from sorting plants can not be used in recycling industries due to losses in the process, says Andrew Parrott, manager Anarpla, the association of recycling companies. "We get dirty equipment and also abundant mixed plastic materials, double-ended, PET and PVC together for example, which involves extra costs and the need to return to pre-select," he adds. Ecodesign
Product
components should be simplified to facilitate the work to the people and who knows what else is plastic and subject. The experts claim that are manufactured and designed plastic containers with materials designed from the ground up to be then recycled. "We need to promote eco-design," says manager Anarpla. Experts claim that plastic containers are designed so as to reduce the use of materials and achieve a lower weight, which helps facilitate the management of these wastes.
Fraud on the green dot.
has increased the number of yellow bins in the street, thanks in part to funding that provides a cost overrun on packages (marked with green dot managed by Ecoembes), for which the municipality installed containers. But still many companies are not attached to the management system and bypass Ecoembes not to pay, which defeats a higher degree of implementation of yellow containers. Ecoembes judges fraud by 10% (12,175 companies now attached to the green point), but other sectors believe that this percentage is actually much higher.
"If you just walk towards recycling, we do not get rid of the waste problem. We need tools for prevention and reduction," said Genoveva Català, director of the Waste Agency of Catalonia. The Government has requested that the new state law addressing waste packaging design (to mix materials and subtract weight) and reducing of sobreenvasado.
Now better reuse
Many experts judge that to overcome the low rate of recycling of some wastes in Spain should introduce the system of deposit and return system for used packaging. The container, once used, would return to trade, where it was sold, with the aim of which is reused or recycled, and the client would receive a small amount left on deposit. This procedure would retrieve and bring back the old formula used container that was in force until the late sixties of last century. Glass containers soda or milk was returned to the store to exchange for the return of five pesetas.
Thus, the client would take awareness of environmental cost is put into service packages and the industry would have to assume that is primarily responsible for packaging waste.
This system has been key in countries like Germany and the Scandinavian countries, where it has successfully completed the collection of yellow container to create a second material recovery circuit.
The proposal has been endorsed by the Fundació per a la dels Prevenció Residus and was published in Barcelona a few days ago to become Returns, a network of institutions, administrations, universities and trade associations to recover.
pursues the idea that the packaging industry and other actors in the chain (hyper, supermarkets, small shops ...) to set a price for putting into circulation a container, so that the client, once used the bottle the brick or tin, can return them in the shops (in exchange for a deposit of 25 euro cents per pack).
Once in the trade, the container would travel in the opposite direction used in the distribution chain so that the packer took over from him in order to reuse or refill, or go to the recycler.
The implementation would require a logistics operator would be responsible for control and accounting system "so that there is no trade to lose money by the fact that return more packaging waste than it has sold and lose out," according Mercè Girona of Foundation for the Waste Prevenció. The
would return the packaging with an automated system. Customers return the container used in a machine - in supermarkets or stores, "which identifies mouth by a bar code, if the package is worth to be reused or refilled, or compressed (if single-use) for recycling the material. Having recognized the packaging machine given a ticket to the client, you can use it as a voucher or make money.
"The great advantage of this system is that responsibility rests on the container industry, the producer, not the taxpayer. The governments are subsidizing the management and treatment of such waste. We need to free local governments and taxpayers of this burden, "says Mercè Girona. "In addition, the compressed material is clean, no stains of any kind, and is of great quality, what is best for recycling ', Holland, Croatia, eight Canadian provinces and eleven U.S. states and other countries , have introduced.
Teresa Ribera, Secretary of State for Climate Change, sees advantages of this system ("put in place prevention and reuse"), but certain obstacles to intermediaries, such as logistical problems, storage and physical space. Bank does not rule out that in the future development of the Packaging Act to implement autonomy.
"We do not reject the system, and in fact the arguments we have proposed in the draft law on waste. But state law requires
The demand for degradable plastics in the U.S.
This situation began to change early in the decade 2000 when interest in the products friendly environment gained momentum, driven by the efforts of the major users such as Wal-Mart.
At the same time the availability of biodegradable plastics increased due to the expansion of major producers, the study said "Degradable Plastics" by The Freedonia Group, Inc.
is expected that these positive trends continue in so far as to 2014 is forecast an increase of 16.6% per annum in the demand for biodegradable plastics, a market worth an estimated U.S. $ 380 million.
opportunities reflect the continued growth of production capacity, efforts to reduce both pollution and dependence United States compared to petroleum products and the demand for packaging and manufactured goods that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
polylactic acid (PLA) and starch-based plastics that now dominate the market will grow further.
The PLA will register the fastest growth, which can reach 20% per year until 2014 due to the wide availability of inventory, the greater familiarity of manufacturers and performance improvements that will expand its potential future applications.
positive prospects degradable plastics are driving the development of new products whose projections growth are encouraging to the extent that its performance will be enhanced and that their prices will be lower.
Will they end the imposed degradable plastics packaging industry?
farming production grew by 520% \u200b\u200bin Spain
production agro-ecological raw materials rose from farmgate value of € 100 million in 2000 to € 650 million in 2009, with 75% of vegetable and 25% of animal origin. Is it feasible to farming? Is there a new Green Revolution? Or, is it still green revolution?.
is increasingly common to find "green" products in supermarkets. There is a tendency in the market that identifies them as products healthier by not making use of agrochemicals and pesticides. However Organic products account for 0.97% of total spending power of English families. During the fair
Bio Cordoba 2010, Isabel Bombal, Director General of Industry and Food Markets has shown some relevant data put into the industrial sector of organic farming.
5.26% of the agricultural area is used for farming
agriclutores 2.42% of exclusively dedicated to this activity
3,083 industries grow or use organic products
generated 18,000 jobs
fruit, vegetables, oils, wines, meat, bread, pastries and canned vegetables, accounting for 61.4% of the industrial structure and account for 74.5% of turnover.
addition, the English green industry, which has 7.5% of EU industrial structure has an important role as an exporter.
- 32% of the industries export their products
- 50% of industrial turnover
- exported $ 620 million (€ 454 million), of which
-
U.S. $ 486 million (€ 356 million) are products -
- $ 134 million (€ 98 million) are raw materials
-
Imports are valued at about U.S. $ 260 million (190 million euros), most processed or handled. - The total market for organic food, domestic and imported, it is estimated that a bill US1.237 million (€ 905 million euros)
, equivalent to 0.97% of total expenditure on food. - growth has certainly been significant, and represents another option for consumers, but for now is focusing on minority and affluent segments.