Reducing the volume of plastics, especially single-use, is a message that is sinking in society. Multiple tests and signs indicate that the use of plastics is receding. Legislative initiatives, campaigns by social organizations and 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 companies in the plastics sector claim that they have experienced a drop in sales in the last six months, according to a survey by the Spanish Association of Plastics Industrialists (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, intended "to prevent the generation of non-reusable plastic packaging waste, as well as encouraging recycling", to reuse these materials. However, Luis Cediel, director general of the Anaip, explains that "it is difficult" to establish a direct relationship between the reduction in sales and the application of the tax. "With what's happening against plastic, it was to be expected that sales would drop," he says.
From the sector it is considered that the public image of plastic has been "bad" for years and that the regulations have been implemented under this premise. As an example, he mentions the regulation that prohibits the free use of single-use plastic bags, which has led to the reduction of volume and the appearance of other materials (paper, cardboard and alternative reusable bags).
The main drops in production have been detected by companies that manufacture containers and packaging, but the sector is trying to overcome them. "Plastic was the material of the 20th century and the new plastic will be the material of the 21st century", he concludes.
The Anaip indicates that there is a decline in the production of single-use plastics, although it does not specify the percentages because the official figures do not correspond 100% with the reality of the sector and many companies do not have the code of 'correct economic activity. However, Cediel says 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 expected decline".
Citizen demand is also having an influence. A study by the GlobeScan consultancy concluded that between 2019 and 2021 the public changed their buying habits to actively avoid plastic packaging.
In the meantime, new economic activities focused on reducing plastics, packaging and wrapping have emerged. They all aim to respond to this problem in prepared food stores, take-away restaurants and home delivery operators (riders).
For example, the Bumerang company provides a service of returnable containers for takeaway food. It offers these solutions to restaurants and the latter, in turn, provide customer service, as explained by Oriol Segarra, director of the company. Each container made available to the restaurant that registers in this service is marked with a QR reader code (which is like the license plate), so that the customer, before taking the food home, scan, it becomes your property and you will have the container for free to return it after 15 days in any of the affiliated restaurants and centers.
The promoters of these initiatives consider that in order for them to pave the way, 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 reflect on the purchase ticket). "Since we started in January 2020, at the Vall d'Hebron hospital we have avoided 80,000 single-use containers, weighing around two million tonnes", 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 giving bicycle tours to tourists and who are now focusing their efforts on the Bol en Bici project, the "delivery that rethinks home delivery", they indicate. The project is in the pilot phase.
Vasovengo, on the other hand, is a reusable cup rental service that avoids the consumption of single-use cups. It has been implemented mainly in cafes in Barcelona, although they also work in Ibiza, Salamanca and, soon, Madrid. The customer pays one euro when he orders coffee, and it is returned to him later, when he takes the cup back to the same or another cafe. "We started with three premises and now we collaborate with twenty. That means it works, albeit slowly. In Spain, users are not used to this kind of consumption", points out Manuela Santoyo from the company.
This entrepreneurship, he explains, is born from the union of two generations, one that has lived a childhood in which reuse was normal, and another that lives an ideal of recovering it. "Our grandparents used to do it with milk. It is now, after the boom that generated single-use plastic, when it is difficult to return to the previous state, to change the habit", Santoyo argues.
The most distinctive feature is that they are analog. "The reuse services that currently exist, of which there are very few in Spain, are mostly based on downloading applications. This is a barrier for the user, we are looking for what is 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 pioneering city in the reduction of waste in the take away sector. And now he wants consumers and locals to know 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 along which the cars of the future will pass.
