Recycling It is an activity that is spreading more and more to developed countries every day. Being able to take advantage of and give a new utility to waste and incorporate it back into the product chain, contributes to minimizing impacts on the environment and, above all, to making better use of resources.

In Spain, the recycling of urban waste by inhabitants decreased by 4,5% in 2014 compared to 2013. The communities that recycled the most were Andalusia, followed by Catalonia and the Community of Madrid.

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Of the 459,1 kilograms of urban waste per inhabitant collected in 2014, 25,7% of the total corresponded to paper and cardboard, 20,6% to animals and vegetables and 19,3% to glass. But the important thing is to see what was done with the waste selectively separated in containers. Of the total separated, 54,3% went to recycling, 38,9% to landfill and 6,8% to incineration.

Autonomous communities that recycle the most in Spain

The autonomous communities that were most in charge of recycling were Andalusia, collecting 4,6 million tons of urban waste, Catalonia, with 3,7 million tons and the Community of Madrid with 2,5 million tons. The autonomous community that collected the most paper, cardboard and glass was in Catalonia with figures of 261,4 thousand tons of cardboard and paper and 162,4 thousand tons of glass.

Waste treatment

As for the companies that are in charge of the correct treatment of waste, both urban and non-urban, we find that they increased their management percentage 9,4% more than the previous year, which supposes an improvement in the management.

However, the bad news is that the amount of waste that was treated increased by 9,9% compared to 2013. This indicates that citizens' consumption patterns continue to increase year after year. We must remember that before recycling or reusing we must reduce consumption and waste generation.