Pilot Test Return Packaging Systems in Cadaqués

Presented by Press conference Presentation of project It is an honour, as a person who lives in the Mediterranean region, in Catalunya and in Cadaqués, of which I am Mayor, to know that our village has been chosen to host this pilot project which will be the first in all the Mediterranean area. Counting station Start up 35.000 beverage containers are counted daily. These are separated into steel, plastic and aluminum. In Cadaqués, it worked at 3% of its capacity Presentation of the pilot project to the village The information campaign was extended till practically the end of the project [10 participating retailers] Now the people are asking: "Can we only bring back your packaging?" And I say "No, of course not" But, on the other hand, if somebody brings a bottle of water of Hacendado brand, you can say "You have not bought this in Cadaqués because we don´t sell this brand here" You take the strap and the code identifies the place where the containers have been picked up It will be sealed and only opened at the plant Characterization: We analyzed the content of the containers of mixed and packaging waste in order to have data before and during the test. "Other" plastics go to the packaging container All plastics which are not containers go to the mixed container Here we count all the containers, and when we have weighed them we separate them into soft drinks, juices, milk ... The four previous characterizations let us know that the level of separate collection of packaging subject to the deposit system in Cadaqués was 12%. Cardboard, in its own bag, briks go separately Cardboeard, briks and others. As to plastic film, I have already marked it here. The pilot project is launched Start up of the first pilot project of one way packaging waste in the Mediterranean region "Are you ready, Anna?" We are, honestly, very excited to be returning the first bottle and starting this pilot test, which more than a pilot is a project to demonstrate that this system works and can work in any municipality in our country. Our landfill has a limited life, and if I am not mistaken, it has 12 years left. 12 years pass quickly; what will happen then, when our landfill is full? He represents the past, though Andreu is still very young And the future, which is already the present, is his grandson, called IU Iu will put the bottle in the machine and inaugurate the pilot Project Come on, Iu! Now you must wait a moment. “The pilot Project to recycle containers starts in Cadaqués” "Consumers pay five cents more for their drink, and they recover it when they give back the empty container” -"Thank you" “This incentivises recycling in Cadaqués” "The return system which worked in Spain till the 80’s has come back to this seaside village” "And from the 15th of April, it is the place which hosts the pilot project of a deposit system" "Consumers will pay five cents first, and when they return the container to one of the participating stores, they will receive their money back". "Cadaqués has launched, this Monday, the first pilot Project of a deposit system for one way beverage containers in Catalunya". "The symbolic return of the first container of the test was done by the town Mayor, Joan Figueras, together with Iu Estraguer and his grandfather Andreu". Visit of representatives of the Retorna member organizations -"For me it is no inconvenience". -"Have any clients complained?" “If they have complained? No, not to me. On the contrary" "There are some children who come, day in, day out, when they come out of school”. "I guess they go to the waste bins to look for cans and bottles… They come and say: I have 62 containers, will you take them all? And I say: “Of course!” "They bring them, they put them up here and we count them together” -"Well, let´s see what they say afterwards" -"Would you like it to continue?" -"If it was up to me, yes!" -"Well, we have to take it to Madrid" Each deposit which is paid goes to Retorna, who uses it to compensate the deposits which are given back. And to do this, we need a counting plant, to enable us to balance the system. We are now in the counting plant. I will briefly explain its functioning. More than 70% of this material which we have collected during this month and a half would have been wasted. It would have gone to a landfill, to our environment or to an incinerator. We knew this system from abroad because it works in other regions of the world, But, of course, when you see it from the inside, all the doubts are cleared regarding this excellent system which is supplementary to the current one. Well, it is a question of having a bit of patience and putting the containers in a bag and when you have many, take them to be recycled. But all in all, it is a good system. This is the first step for people to get used to it and to see, in the long run, that what they are doing is not to get five cents back but to make good use of materials that otherwise would damage the environment. Here he wind is very strong and any plastics or empty containers fly and get caught up in the bushes or anywhere. Visit to the pilot project Commission of Planning and Sustainability Parliament of Catalonia What we have seen in Cadaqués has certainly been impressive, precisely because of its simplicity. We have seen a new system which involves the use of high technology applied in a simple way 73 00:08:31,100 --> 00:08:34,500 thanks to the cooperation of citizens and without too much difficulty. Moreover, behind this there is a very technified economy, which generates employment, generates wealth and saves a lot. The percentages are rising and are not yet stabilized.. Every day more containers are returned than the previous day Today we are in the middle of the campaign, but we can assess that the containers recovered have increased enormously. A recycler who has come to see the material was astonished by its good quality. There are no improper materials, no other materials than PET or aluminum, plastic or steel. Visit to the pilot of Josep Enric Llebot Secretary of Environment of the Department of Planning and Sustainability. There was a bit of everything, water taps,… In the plant we visited last Tuesday in Madrid. There is absolutely everything, video machines, brooms, anything… Environmental parties go ahead with projects which are economically unviable because they think of the future, and in the business world we take our hand to our heads: "but this is so expensive! How can we do what we must do, well done and in a competitive way; the answer is the Deposit System. We must move towards a system economically self-sustaining and also respectful with the environment. The pilot test is successful: Cadaqués recovers 90,227 containers. The recovered material has a unique quality in Spain. 10 stores participated in the pilot project for 11 weeks and 81,000 containers have been returned to them, the equivalent of 76% of sales. In addition, we have seen that the return rate has evolved progressively We are especially pleased that during the last week of the test We have passed the 90% rate of return. The conclusion is that during the three months in which we have implemented the test all those involved feel proud of having participated. The retailers, large and small, and the citizens, are all proud to see that there is a system, similar to what we used to do before, “return the bottle”, that works, that has cleaned the village and that is easy to use in their day to day. They also realize that what they have done, the simple act of returning the containers really helps towards recycling. There were doubts if we could carry it out or not. Not because of us, but because we had sectors that were putting a lot of pressure. Perhaps it is better to say: "Let´s stop here, we get results, we introduce it in a waste plan and then we implement it in all Catalunya ". -"They wont dare" -"¡We will see! ¡We will see!" ¡In Cadaqués we have achieved it!