www.futurenviro.es | Julio-Septiembre July-September 2021 34 Gestión y Tratamiento de Residuos | Waste Management & Treatment 100% reciclable, ecológico, bio y un sinfín de palabras nacidas esta ultima década que requieren de una regulación. Pero una regulación con fundamento, porque todos estos cambios de hábitos de consumo, todo lo que antes consumíamos en un restaurante con vajilla de loza, reutilizable y lavable, ahora son envases multicapa de papel y plástico, que difícilmente se podrán reciclar. Por eso y para que no nos convirtamos en el vertedero de Europa, hay que potenciar la valorización energética de los residuos que de otro modo terminarían en un vertedero. Con garantías que la valorización energética sea la última instancia antes que el vertedero, porque si no, corremos el riesgo que quememos materia prima secundaria y eso seria volver al inicio. Cierto es que la materia prima secundaria no es barata, pues los costes de recoger, separar y reciclar encarecen la obtención de esta materia; pero es aprovechamiento de recursos y la no expoliación del medio natural, por eso no es barato, pero es PREMIUM. Lo primero que debemos hacer es un escandallo de costes de que cuesta la circularidad de cada objeto que ponemos al mercado: ¿es viable, no lo es, es reutilizable, es reciclable? Hasta ahora, los ciclos de vida parecen marcar estos indicadores, pero son poco tangibles y depende de quien los haga incluso pueden estar sesgados. Por ello necesitamos leyes que determinen que se puede publicitar como reciclable o no, que es eco o circular y que no; y dichas leyes deberían ser hechas por legisladores independientes con amplitud de miras y que no se dejen influenciar por la industria. While in many countries they pay by waste generation, here we continue with our welfare state in which the few who pay sustain a system in which many don’t fulfil their obligations. While in some countries they charge you a deposit for packaging, which ensures that you return it either yourself or donate it, with the guarantee of quality and traceability of the material that entails, here we continue to collect the waste in fractions in bins and a lot of it, the litter on the street, does not even receive that consideration. We do handstands to make the numbers add up and yet we pay fines and more fines for missing targets, but this produces no results here; we continue to put the onus on the consumer and issue confusing and misleading messages: 100% recyclable, ecological, organic and an endless list of words born in the last decade that require regulation. But wellfounded regulation, because all these changes in consumer habits, everything that we used to consume in a restaurant with reusable and washable crockery, is now multilayer paper and plastic containers, which are difficult to recycle. For this reason, and to prevent us from becoming the landfill of Europe, we must promote energy recovery from waste that would otherwise be landfilled. With guarantees that energy recovery is the last resort before landfilling, because otherwise we run the risk of burning secondary raw materials and that would bring us back to square one. It is true that secondary raw materials are not cheap, as the costs of collecting, separating and recycling make it more expensive to obtain this material. But the use of secondary raw materials means availing of resources and not spoiling the natural environment, so they are not cheap, but they are PREMIUM. The first thing we need to do is to make an estimate of the cost of the circularity of each object we place on the market. Is it feasible, is it unfeasible, is it reusable, is it recyclable? Thus far, lifecycle assessments seem to be the basis for measuring these indicators, but they are not particularly tangible and, depending on who carries them out, may even be biased. That is why we need laws that set out what can be advertised as recyclable or not, what is eco-friendly or circular and what is not; and such laws should be made by independent, far-sighted legislators who are not influenced by industry. Victoria Ferrer Maymo Directora General, Gremi de Recuperació de Catalunya General Director, Gremi de Recuperació de Catalunya (Catalan Recovery Guild)
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