The generation and management of plastic waste is a problem that affects all sectors of society and has a serious impact on the natural environment and people’s health. Plastic waste, especially disposable plastic packaging, continues to increase year after year, far from the reduction targets set by European, national and Catalan legislation. According to data from the European Union, plastic packaging waste is expected to increase by 19% by 2030 across the EU, compared to 2018, if reduction policies are not implemented. Current separate collection of plastic waste and recycling techniques are proving to be insufficient and have major limitations to efficiently collect and treat the large quantities of plastic waste generated.
Therefore, there is a clear need to focus on the prevention of plastic waste and the reduction of society’s dependence on plastic packaging and products, especially disposable ones. To this end, it is necessary to develop tools and measures that effectively tackle the problem by implementing systems for the reuse of packaging, the shared use of products and the environmentalization of key sectors and areas of society.
Municipalities are bodies with the capacity to implement measures to prevent plastic waste and implement reuse systems, to thrive in the fight against plastics, to make sustainable use of resources and to meet the targets set by legislation.
In this sense, the ERIC project, launched by Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) in March 2023 and with a total duration of two years, aims to work with municipalities across Europe to design and implement Plastic Prevention Plans or Programmes (PPP) and thus position themselves as a European benchmark in the reduction of pollution and plastic waste generation at local level.
Within the framework of this project, the Plastic Prevention Plan and Programme of the municipalities of Torrelles de Llobregat and Viladecans, respectively, which are the two Catalan municipalities participating in the project, together with 26 other municipalities from 10 European countries, were approved this July. Both have a long track record and a strong commitment to waste prevention policies. For these municipalities, the adoption of a legally binding municipal PPP is of considerable importance in the fight against plastic waste, especially disposable plastic waste.
Rezero is the expert entity at state level that works directly with municipalities for the diagnosis and design of PPPs, accompanying municipalities in the identification of the most appropriate measures in each case, to promote the reduction of the use of disposable plastics (avoiding the adoption of false solutions, such as the replacement of these by disposable items made of other materials), as well as the implementation of reuse systems.
‘Rezero is convinced of the potential of municipalities to contribute to the transition towards zero waste, especially when there is political will and technical capacity building. When a municipality is committed to zero waste, in this case to plastic prevention and reuse, and commits to this local and global goal, it adopts a direction and a philosophy to educate citizens. We encourage municipalities to join this essential change, which will bear fruit in the short and medium term’, says Alba Cabrera, Director of Studies at Rezero.
The PPPs have a temporal scope of 4-5 years, over which several plastic prevention actions are planned, framed in various fields of action: events, municipal buildings and facilities, commercial establishments and the foodservice channel, educational centers, public spaces and municipal and health services.
For both municipalities, the actions to be carried out between 2024 and 2025, within the execution period of the ERIC project, have been agreed with the local councils, and for which a final monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the measure is foreseen.
In the case of Torrelles de Llobregat, plastic waste prevention actions have been integrated into the Local Waste Prevention Plan, which has also been updated this year. Between 2024 and the beginning of 2025, it is planned to develop actions to establish channels for the use of food surpluses using a system of reusable packaging; the reduction of the use of disposable nappies and menstrual products; the creation of a municipal service for the rental of reusable crockery and glasses; the reduction of disposable plastics at public events and the promotion of disposable plastic-free purchasing by commercial establishments.
‘It is essential to have Plans that clearly propose effective and tested actions and measures, such as the Plastic Prevention Plans of the ERIC project and the Municipal Waste Prevention Plans, which serve as a guide and help us in work planning and economic planning. As a City Council, we are firmly committed to informing and raising awareness among citizens about the environmental and human health problems caused by the consumption of plastics’, says Ignasi Llorente, alderman of Torrelles de Llobregat.
As for Viladecans, the measures included in its PPP that are planned to be developed and evaluated during the second year of implementation of the ERIC project are the prevention of plastics in food delivery, the reduction of disposable plastics in shops and in the foodservice channel, the reduction of disposable plastics in educational centers and the prevention of plastic marine litter.
Encarni Garcia, Deputy Mayor for the Environment and Sustainability Area explains that ‘The approval of the Plastic Prevention Programme is important because it allows us to move forward in an orderly manner in the reduction of single-use plastics which, as you know, are highly polluting and generate a very negative impact on ecosystems and on the health of living beings. In Viladecans we place the improvement of people’s quality of life at the centre of our policies and we know that less plastic in the environment means more health for people and for the life of our ecosystems, which is why we are committed to reducing disposable plastics with the implementation of the Programme we have approved’.
The results obtained from the implementation of these plastic prevention measures in the participating municipalities will serve as a benchmark at European level and will provide a clear vision of the tools and mechanisms available at municipal level to effectively prevent plastic waste, and in particular of disposable plastics.
Encarni Garcia adds that ‘We know that when we add up, the results are multiplied, so it is very important that all municipalities work to reduce plastic. We believe that tackling this problem by approving plastic prevention programmes allows us to share objectives, actions, knowledge and experience, while multiplying the benefits for the environment, people’s health and ecosystems’.
Manon Jourdan, ERIC project manager from Zero Waste Europe, states further that ‘It’s very exciting to see municipalities such as Viladecans and Torrelles de Llobregat commit to such extensive plastic prevention plans. Their recognition of the size of the problem we face and their leadership as cities to tackle this challenge directly sets an important precedent for others to follow across Europe. Accepting the costs of plastic pollution is something municipalities do not have to do. Instead, as shown in the extensive plans devised in both these municipalities, local communities can take several key actions that help protect the local environment from pollution, reduce the volume of waste generated and help save costs for the local authority. We hope that through our work in the ERIC project, many other municipalities across a diverse range of European contexts will follow the same path as Viladecans and Torrelles de Llobregat in the coming years, as we showcase how communities can practically transition away from an economy based on single-use materials.’