Reducing the volume of plastics, especially single-use ones, is a message that is permeating society. Multiple evidence and signs indicate that the use of plastics is receding. The legislative initiatives, the campaigns of social organizations and the better knowledge of the ecological impacts of these materials on the environment (especially on the marine environment) are already leaving their mark on consumption. 80% of the companies in the plastics sector affirm that they have suffered a drop in sales in the last six months, according to a survey by the Spanish Association of plastics manufacturers (Anaip).
One of the most important instruments to reduce plastics was the new tax included in the Waste Law, which entered into force on January 1, 2023, aimed at "preventing the generation of non-reusable plastic packaging waste, as well as promoting recycling”, to reuse these materials. However, Luis Cediel, general director of Anaip, explains that "it is difficult" to establish a direct relationship between the reduction in sales and the application of the tax. "With the one that is falling against the plastic, that sales drop was something to be expected," he says.
From the sector it is considered that the public image of plastic has been "being bad" for years and that regulations have been implemented under this premise. As an example, he cites the regulations that prohibit single-use plastic bags from being free, which has led to a reduction in volume and the appearance of other materials (paper, cardboard and alternative reusable bags).
The main drops in production have been detected by the packaging and packaging manufacturing companies, but the sector is trying to overcome it. “Plastic was the material of the 20th century and the new plastic will be the material of the 21st century”, he concludes.
Anaip indicates that there is a decrease in the production of single-use plastics, although it does not specify the percentages because the official figures do not correspond 100% to the reality of the sector and many companies do not have the correct economic activity code. However, Cediel points out that "single-use products will continue to fall in the coming years", which means that "companies are evolving to reusable products to compensate for this drop that is pointed out".
Citizen demand is also having an influence. A study by the GlobeScan consultancy concluded that between 2019 and 2021, citizens changed their shopping habits to actively avoid plastic packaging.
Meanwhile, new economic activities have emerged focused on the reduction of single-use plastics, containers and wrappers. All of them aim to provide an answer to this problem in prepared food stores, take away restaurants and home delivery drivers (riders...).
For example, the Bumerang company provides a returnable take-away food container service. It offers these solutions to restaurants and they in turn provide customer service, according to Oriol Segarra, director of the company. Each container made available to the restaurant that signs up for this service is marked with a QR reader code (which is like a license plate), so that the customer scans it before taking their food home, it becomes your 'property' and thus you will have the container free to return it in 15 days in any of the restaurants and adhered centers.
The promoters of these initiatives consider that for them to make headway it is essential to comply with the Waste Law, which requires businesses to charge a small amount for the delivery of single-use packaging (which must be reflected on the receipt of buys). "Since we started in January 2020, at the Vall d'Hebron hospital we have avoided 80,000 single-use containers, weighing about 2 million tons," says Oriol Segarra.
Les Mercedes, a non-profit cooperative dedicated to courier and food delivery, has expanded its activity by offering seasonal products served in returnable containers.
The cooperative is made up of four women who, before the pandemic, had dedicated themselves to making bicycle tours for tourists and who are now focusing their efforts on the Bol en Bici project, the “delivery that rethinks food at home”, they indicate. The project is in the pilot phase.
Vasovengo, for its part, is a reusable cup rental service that avoids the consumption of single-use cups. It has been implemented mainly in cafeterias in Barcelona, although they also work in Eivissa, Salamanca, and soon, Madrid. The client pays one euro, when he orders his coffee, and it is returned to him later, when he takes the glass back, to the same cafeteria or to a different one. “We started with three stores and now we collaborate with twenty. This means that it works, although it is slow. In Spain, users are not used to this type of consumption”, points out Manuela Santoyo from this company.
This venture, he explains, is born from the union of two generations, one that has lived a childhood where reuse was normal, and another that lives an ideal of recovering it. “Our grandparents already did it with milk. It is now, after the boom generated by single-use plastic, when it is difficult to go back to the previous thing, to change the habit”, argues Santoyo.
Its most distinctive feature is being analog. “The reuse services that currently exist, which are very few in Spain, are mostly based on downloading applications. This is a barrier for the user, we look for analog to facilitate access ”, he adds. These three initiatives are part of the European ReUse Vanguard Project, promoted by the Rezero Foundation. This entity has turned Barcelona into a pioneer city in the reduction of waste in the take away sector. And now look for consumers and locals to learn about alternative solutions to single-use plastic. Marta Beltrán, in charge of the European project within ReZero, says that reusing is like building the roads through which the cars of the future will pass.
