Spain Strives to Be More Eco Friendly and Will Ban These Single Use Plastic Items in 2021

IN an effort to become eco-friendlier, Spain has decided it will ban the sale of single use plastics such as disposable cutlery and plates which will begin in July of 2021.

For the first time ever, the Spanish government has decided that next year on July 3 and thereafter it will prohibit the sale of cotton swabs (not medical use ones), plastic cutlery, plastic throwaway plates, plastic straws and stirrers in the Spanish marketplace. Furthermore, in order to reduce the use of these plastics, bars and restaurants will be forced to offer free non-bottled water to clients rather than making them order a plastic one.

These are some of the new legislative measures about residuals and circular economy which the Councillor of Ministers will vote to approve this Tuesday. Their objective is to reduce the commercialisation of these plastic single use products by around 50 per cent within the next six years. By 2030 the administration hopes that these will be reduced by around 70 per cent. In order to comply with these objectives, the Spanish government will encourage the use of other alternative reusable materials or eco-friendlier non-plastic materials.

Another order included under this umbrella, is that after January 1 in 2023 any product plastics given to the customer will have to be separately charged and outlined in the final bill.

Alongside the objective to reduce the use of plastic packaging, the public administrations also want to adopt necessary measures to reduce the use of bottled water and our dependency on this. For example, by installing water fountains and or supplying water in re-usable bottles.

These measures all form part of the strategy to create a ‘Circular Economy.’ This strategy is formed of various objectives, such as a 30 per cent decrease in the national consumption of materials and a 15 per cent reduction in the creation of residuals in respect to 2010’s data.

Another novelty which accompanies these environmentally friendly changes is to drastically reduce food waste in Spain. More specifically, they aim to reduce the food wasted in individual households which is thrown away by 50 per cent and the food thrown away in production and distribution chains by 20 per cent starting from the year 2020. All of this forms part of the Objectives of Sustainable Development strategy which Spain is striving towards.

Written by

Laura Kemp

Originally from UK, Laura is based in Axarquia and is a writer for the Euro Weekly News covering news and features. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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