MADRID – During the holidays, around 900 million kilos of paper and cardboard are collected in Spain for recycling, the Spanish foundation Aspapel reports. With an above-average recycling rate, Spain is the second largest paper recycler in the EU.
The Spanish Foundation for Pulp, Paper and Cardboard (Aspapel) recently presented these figures, the news site Efeverde.es reported. The months of December and January have been busy for many years with the recycling of these packaging materials.
Paper recycling increased since pandemic
According to Aspapel, 900 million kilograms of paper and cardboard is predicted. Furthermore, this exceeds the amount collected before the pandemic during these months. Moreover, this increase is largely due to the fact that the Spaniards are also ordering more online. Therefore, this is then delivered in boxes by parcel services. In the months of December and January, an average of 20% of the total amount of these materials is collected throughout the year.
This amount is collected through the blue containers and through door-to-door collection. These services are coordinated by private bodies in major distribution areas. In reality, Spain, therefore, consumes even more paper and cardboard, which ultimately does not end up at recycling points.
Spain is the largest paper recycler in Europe after Finland
According to Aspapel, Spain is the second largest recycled paper recycler in the European Union and the Spanish sector expects to recover more than 5.3 billion kilos of waste paper and cardboard this year. Finland is number one. With this amount, the recycling rate in Spain amounts to 78%. In 2020, the average recycling rate across the EU was 74%.
Advice on paper recycling to Spanish consumers
Perhaps it is an open door for many, but Aspapel emphasizes in her press release that old paper and cardboard must be deposited in the blue container at all times. The foundation indicates that too often different materials are left behind in the blue container, which makes recycling complicated. Boxes should be folded flat. Since it is always extra busy around the holidays, and there are fewer or no collection times, the foundation advises not to throw away paper or cardboard in the blue container around these days.
