A new study by DS Smith reveals that households are running out of space to recycle properly.
The rise in online shopping and the increased time we spend at home has led to overflowing recycling bins, so much so that 45% of Spaniards say they have run out of space in their recycling containers on more than one occasion. According to DS Smith, the country's recycling infrastructure is not prepared to handle the increased volume of household recycling.
DS Smith points out that, as we observe how more and more packaging arrives at our homes, we must ensure that we have the appropriate infrastructure to deal with recycling.
The study shows that this increase is due to two long-term trends, both accelerated by the pandemic. 59% of Spaniards say that their recycling has increased because they are at home much longer, and almost 40% of those surveyed blame the increase in online purchases of their overflowing containers.
In addition, the research carried out by DS Smith has revealed that 62% of Spaniards consider that their recycling bins should be larger and almost a quarter of those surveyed (22%) admit to having thrown their recyclable waste into another container when the correct one was full, meaning these will likely end up in a landfill or incinerated.
The main items that respondents claimed to have recycled the most since the Covid-19 crisis began are: online shopping packaging (45%), take away food packaging (3 2%) and toilet paper rolls (32%).
88% of those surveyed say they are concerned about the impact of excess waste on the environment. Many are also concerned about infrastructure, with more than half of those surveyed (53%) concerned that their recycling is not being managed properly and ends up in a landfill or is incinerated. Almost 8 in 10 (77%) respondents agree that we urgently need more information about what we can and cannot recycle.
Javier Innerarity , operations director of DS Smith Recycling Iberia, stated: “Although a great effort is being made to recycle at home, one of the keys to achieving European recycling targets is the quality of the materials arriving at recycling plants. While Spain needs a recycling infrastructure that can handle the increase in household waste, it is vital that consumers have the necessary information to properly separate materials at the source, thus ensuring that the quality of the collected raw materials is optimal for subsequent recycling.”
