Spain urgently needs to solve two problems that can seriously condition its development in the coming years. Throughout the country there are about 200 illegal landfills, which has forced the European Commission, which has been calling for their closure, sealing and restoration since 2008, to denounce our country before the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to comply with the directive. about waste. In addition, it needs to design an energy system that allows it to have energy at a competitive price, depend less on imports and, above all, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
At first, it may seem that garbage and energy are not related, but nothing could be further from the truth. Technology today allows us to give a second life to a good part of the waste we generate, using them as raw materials to manufacture products with a low or zero carbon footprint. For example, the organic waste produced by agriculture, livestock and the agri-food industry, and also what we throw in the garbage can at home, can be used to produce renewable fuels, which are already used to power cars, trucks, boats and even airplanes without having to make changes to the engines.
These fuels are going to play a fundamental role in reducing CO2 emissions in all transport sectors, which is why their demand is going to grow significantly in Spain in the coming years. To produce them it will be necessary to adapt the refineries and build treatment plants. Some of these facilities will be located in the rural areas where agricultural and livestock or forestry waste is generated, which will contribute to creating new jobs in regions that are often threatened by depopulation.
On the other hand, the production of renewable fuels would reduce the volume of organic waste that reaches landfills each year, in addition to encouraging the recycling of waste such as used cooking oil, which in many homes in this country is still thrown away. sink. In 2021, more than 500 million liters of oil were consumed in Spanish homes, of which only 10% was recycled, which gives us a rough idea of the enormous potential of this waste.
Given these data, it is evident that Spain is wasting resources that could be very valuable to generate part of the energy that its economy needs. And the problem is that we are already late. The European Union wants the recycling rate of municipal waste to reach a minimum of 55% next year in all countries and Spain has one of the lowest on the continent, 36% in 2021, twelve points below the average European. Our authorities will have to work hard to reach these figures and ensure that the country abandons the tailgating of recycling in Europe once and for all.
