RezeroLab Dades

Proper waste management plays a key role in the development of the circular economy.

The generation of packaging waste is affected both by consumer behavior and by producers’ own production and distribution strategies. In addition, much of this packaging is made of plastic, generating waste that is difficult to recycle and potentially hazardous to the environment and human health.

It is therefore necessary to implement more stringent measures to reduce packaging waste and to promote improved recycling and recovery.

This indicator shows the percentage of recycling of municipal waste generated, i.e., waste that does not have a final destination (landfill or incineration).

This percentage includes, therefore, material recycling and composting and anaerobic digestion of organic waste.

Home and community composting represents a more efficient and sustainable alternative than external treatment of the organic fraction, since it allows quality compost to be obtained in the same home or municipality where the waste is generated, in addition to allowing the involvement and awareness of citizens about the importance of transforming organic waste into compost to return nutrients to the soil.

Taxes or fees on the deposit of waste in landfills, incineration and co-incineration of waste, are economic instruments that aim to encourage more environmentally friendly behavior by economically penalizing the destination of the rejection fraction for final treatments. Any preventive waste management strategy carried out by local authorities that entail a reduction in waste sent to final treatments will entail direct savings for municipalities. On the other hand, increasing selective collection also represents a direct improvement in the economic balance of municipal waste management, due to the increase in income linked to Integrated Management Systems, the return of the fee and the sale of material.

The environmental costs associated with waste management are those linked to its collection, transportation and treatment that affect the environment in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, polluting substances or consumption of natural resources.

The reduction of greenhouse gases in this sector involves waste prevention and reuse, rather than its management (recycling or final treatment), as well as managing it in the most local way possible to reduce emissions associated with transportation.

Alternative consumption options, such as organic production, which support more sustainable production models, have been increasing significantly in recent years with constant growth. Organic farming allows to combat the damage caused by phytosanitary products, as well as reduce the effects on climate change, the loss of biological diversity and the inability to ensure food sovereignty, which conventional agriculture can cause.

Fair Trade is an international movement that fights for greater global justice at an economic, social and environmental level.

Fair trade products guarantee that they have been grown or produced under principles of respect for human, labor and social rights; fair and democratic business practices; and environmental protection.

The overconsumption of products of animal origin has proven to be closely related to a high environmental impact of the food sector and the climate crisis.

A reduction in the consumption of protein of animal origin, and its replacement by the consumption of protein of plant origin, would significantly contribute to mitigating the environmental impact derived from the food sector, both by releasing pressure on the soil and the rest of natural ecosystems, as well as the reduction of associated greenhouse gases.

The number of companies with ecological labels (mechanism for promoting products that can reduce adverse environmental impacts compared to other products in the same category), environmental quality guarantee badges (Catalan ecological labeling system that recognizes products and services that exceed certain environmental quality requirements beyond those established as mandatory by current regulations) and EMAS (management tool for companies and other organizations, of voluntary application, which allows evaluating, improving and making known their environmental behavior), allows evaluating the evolution of companies’ commitment to the environment.

Despite the existing reusable alternatives, single-use nappies continue to be the mostly used option and their consumption is closely related to birth rates.

Although singe-use nappies have a very low durability and cause a great environmental impact (multi-material products, use of plastics, high recycling complexity), these are products that are not currently adhered to any extended producer responsibility system (EPR) that guarantees that manufacturers assume the costs of the waste they generate.

Currently, single-use menstrual products (pads and tampons) continue to be the most used option among menstruating people, despite the multiple reusable alternatives that exist (menstrual cups, reusable pads and panties, menstrual sponge).

Such menstrual products are characterized by having a very low durability and a very high recycling complexity, which is why they are collected and treated with the rejection fraction or, in the worst case, thrown into the natural environment. Even so, these products are not subject to any extended producer responsibility (EPR) system.

Coffee capsules represent an example of a product with a bad design that does not allow its correct management as waste and recycling. Their small size and the fact that they are still full of organic content when they have become waste makes it difficult to recycle them, even though most of them are made of aluminum and it is a completely recyclable material. Furthermore, it is a product that does not cover any real need in society and that presents many traditional and more sustainable alternatives, such as the use of Italian coffee makers and bulk ground coffee.