Estepona City Council is participating in Ecovidrio’s ‘Green Flags’ campaign to raise public awareness of the importance of recycling glass containers for the environment. A total of 145 hotel and restaurant establishments of the city have also joined this initiative that aims to increase, at least, in 10 percent the amount of glass that was recycled last summer, so it would have to reach 401 tons of containers.
During all of 2020 Estepona recycled a total of 1,184 tons of glass waste, which meant an average of 16.9 kilograms per inhabitant. With more than 470 containers dedicated to collecting glass, the municipality has one igloo for every 148 inhabitants.
The Consistory trusts that during this summer season the glass recycling data will continue to improve and that Estepona will obtain one of the Green Flags with which Ecovidrio awards the municipalities in Spain that are most aware of the green transition.
A total of 129 coastal municipalities from five autonomous communities different are participating in this campaign, which has the participation of more than 14,000 catering establishments.
According to data provided by Ecovidrio, in the previous edition of ‘Green Flags’ that was held last summer, it was possible to raise the collection of glass containers nationwide to 48,226 tons, 11.2 percent more than in the same period 2019. Recycling that amount managed to avoid the emission of 24,514 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to taking 11,446 vehicles off the road for a year.
The Estepona City Council also thanks the Junta de Andalucía, the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol and the Andalusian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces that have joined this campaign that wants to raise awareness about the importance of recycling and separation of the selective collection of glass containers.
A total of 145 establishments in the city are also participating in this initiative. The hospitality sector generates 52 percent of glass containers single-use, “so it is key to generate a real transition towards a circular economy model,” they have stated from the City Council.
In order to facilitate the separation of glass containers for all the participating hoteliers, Ecovidrio will install new containers and will deliver to the establishments, free of charge, buckets to facilitate the transport of glass container waste.
With a human team deployed throughout the city, the entity will visit the restaurant businesses to inform about the campaign and encourage participation. In addition, it will monitor the filling volumes to adapt the collection routes if necessary.
To raise awareness among the rest of the citizenry, the Estepona City Council is going to start a campaign with different content on social networks and in the municipal media with the hashtags #MovimientoBanderasVerdes #yosoyreverde and #reciclavidrio.