No butts on Javea’s beaches and no wipes down the loo

JAVEA’s last plenary council meeting voted in favour of various proposals aimed at protecting the municipality’s coastline and beaches.

These included a blanket ban on smoking on all beaches.  The motion tabled by the town hall’s Tourism and Environment councillor Toni Miragall followed on from the central government’s recently-approved Rubbish Treatment Law which gives legal backing to town halls that ban smoking on their beaches.

Apart from the health aspect, No Smoking beaches are also concerned about the cigarette butts that account for 30 per cent of all rubbish, Miragall explained.

Wet wipes, too, are in the town hall’s sights owing to their unclear labelling and carelessness on the part of people who continue to flush them down the lavatory, councillors heard.

Not only do they block the sewage system but Javea suffers doubly, the councillor said. because the wipes find their way to the sea and as well as inflicting damage on the marine ecosystem, the currents return them to the coast once more.

Thisproposal, which was voted through, will launch information and awareness campaigns while asking the national parliament to introduce legislation obliging manufacturers to state clearly that wipes are not biodegradable and cannot be flushed away.