Vega Baja struggles to improve recycling despite rising bin charges
There are currently only 613 public bins on the streets of Orihuela Costa
Recycling appears to be something of an afterthought across the municipalities of the Vega Baja region. All 27 towns in the area rank among the worst in the Valencian Community for separating their waste at home before dumping it in public bins.
Official figures show that very little cardboard, paper, plastic containers, cans or cartons are making it to recycling facilities, and only around 400 tonnes of organic waste reach treatment plants each year. This is a small amount when compared with the 192,000 tonnes of household waste produced by more than 386,000 people.
Organic waste such as food makes up nearly half of a typical rubbish bag and could easily be recycled. In all areas of recycling, the Vega Baja performs below the average for both the province of Alicante and the wider Valencian Community.
In theory, separating waste is strongly encouraged. But in reality, the waste collection service across the region has been in crisis for years. In Orihuela Costa in particular, the situation is especially bad.
Residents are constantly being told to recycle, but there are not enough bins for general waste, let alone separate containers for plastic, cardboard, glass and organic waste. Many of the street bins that do exist are damaged or unusable. Meanwhile, the amount residents pay for waste collection has gone up sharply this year.
There are currently only 613 public bins on the streets of Orihuela Costa; however, the City Council purchased 758 new containers in May, which is has already started installing.
Some towns are performing better than others. Guardamar del Segura leads the region in recycling. With just over 17,300 residents, the town recycles 22 kilos of lightweight packaging and 26 kilos of paper and cardboard per person per year. These results are more than double those of most other towns and well above the national average of 19 kilos.
Pilar de la Horadada also shows strong performance. With 23,000 residents, the town has offered the highest number of recycling container points in the region for many years.
The towns with the worst results include Callosa de Segura, which has nearly 20,000 residents. There, recycling rates in the blue and yellow bins are less than four kilos per person per year. In Cox, which has 7,500 residents, people recycle only two kilos of cardboard and five kilos of lightweight packaging per year.
The region’s two largest towns, Torrevieja and Orihuela, are both around the regional average of 12 kilos per person. This is still seen as a poor result, especially as these two towns together generate half of all household waste in the Vega Baja.
“These data make the regional treatment plant more necessary than ever to advance toward the circular economy and comply with legislation,” Mr Cano said
The Consortium says that separating waste at home using the correct bins is essential if the region is to meet environmental laws.
“If waste isn't separated and is all thrown mixed into the gray container, it makes its recovery and recycling very difficult, especially in our Consortium, one of the few that still doesn't have its own waste treatment plant,” Mr Cano added.
“We are going to promote separation with special environmental education campaigns, but the lack of our own facilities means that our citizens must make a special effort to separate it at source,” he concluded.
Image: Ayuntamiento de Orihuela
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