The program ASPAPEL Blue Bow Ties has celebrated its 8th edition under the motto “Everyone's Paper”, recognizing the excellence of its management in selective collection for the paper and cardboard recycling to 47 local entities (city councils and groups of municipalities) from 15 autonomous communities. Of the group of awarded local entities, 40 have obtained the highest recognition with three Blue Bow Ties; three have obtained two; and four have received one.
These awards are granted based on the annual evaluation of 21 indicators that analyze all aspects related to the collection of the blue container and complementary collections, information and citizen awareness campaigns, regulation and management planning, as well as collection rates and traceability.
As a novelty, this year the “Illustrious Bow Tie” award has been presented to those local entities that have been obtaining the maximum recognition for more than five consecutive years, that is, three Blue Bow Ties, demonstrating their firm commitment to continuous improvement in management of the selective collection of paper and cardboard. In total, 22 entities have obtained this “Illustrious Bow Tie”, especially highlighting the Consorci de Residus i Energia de Menorca, the City Council of Lleida, the City Council of Logroño and the City Council of Fuenlabrada, which received a special mention for having achieved three Blue Bow Ties since the beginning of this program, that is, for eight consecutive years.
The ceremony for the delivery of the Blue Bow Ties has been led by Miryam Álvarez Páez, general secretary of Territorial Coordination and Eduardo Querol, president of ASPAPEL, who highlighted that “Spain is on the podium of the countries that recycle the most paper and cardboard, because we are the third country in the European Union with the highest recycling volume of this material. In addition, we are ahead of the legislation in the recycling of paper and cardboard packaging. According to the latest data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, in 2021, 77,9% of paper and cardboard packaging was recycled, a figure that exceeds the goal established for 2025 four years in advance.”
During the meeting, the video of the “Fold and Recycle” campaign, an initiative that included the renowned voice actor Ramón Langa to convey to citizens that with the small gesture of folding the cardboard before placing it in the blue container, we can all be protagonists of recycling.
According to ASPAPEL forecasts, in 2023, 4,4 million tons of used paper and cardboard have been selectively collected in our country and 5 million tons of used paper and cardboard have been recycled. These data continue to position this industry as a benchmark in Europe, making Spain the third country in the European Union with the highest volume of recycling of this material.
Town councils committed to blue recycling
In the commitment to blue recycling, the Autonomous Communities with the highest number of awarded local entities have been the Community of Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia with eight entities, Castilla y León with five and the Balearic Islands with three. They are followed by the Basque Country, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragon, the Canary Islands and Galicia with two, and La Rioja, the Principality of Asturias, Extremadura, the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia, with one award-winning entity each.
Among the local entities that have received the highest recognition with the Illustrious Bow Tie The town councils of Cádiz, Córdoba – SADECO, Gijón – EMULSA, Granadilla de Abona – SERMUGRAN, Lleida, Barcelona, El Prat de Llobregat, Mollet del Vallés, Ciudad Real, Soria, Valladolid, Logroño, Fuenlabrada, Coslada, Getafe – LYMA are located. , Bilbao, Provincial Council of Córdoba – EPREMASA, Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol, Grouping Consortium No. 1 of Huesca – GRHUSA, Waste and Energy Consortium of Menorca, RSU Consortium of Ciudad Real – RSU ENVIRONMENT, Commonwealth of San Frames. Also, three blue bow ties They have also gone to the town councils of Malaga – LIMASAM, San Fernando, Seville – LIPASAM, Zaragoza, Calvià – CALVIÀ 2000, Palma de Mallorca – EMAYA, Castelldefels, Reus, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Terrassa – ECOEQUIP, Burgos, Segovia, Cáceres, Las Rozas de Madrid, Leganés, Pinto, Rivas-Vaciamadrid – RIVAMADRID and Lorca – LIMUSA.
For their part, the Town Councils of Dos Hermanas, Salamanca and Paterna have received two Blue Bow Ties. Finally, the City Councils of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Madrid and the councils of Lugo and Ourense have received a blue bow tie.
