Consorcio Vega Baja Sostenible insists on the urgent construction of its own waste processing plant.

The board of the Vega Baja Sostenible Sustainable Development Consortium, which unites 27 municipalities in the Vega Baja del Segura region, has reiterated the urgent need to build its own waste treatment and recycling facility. This issue was reaffirmed at the last board meeting and identified as a key infrastructure challenge for the region in the coming years.

The scale of the problem is evident in the numbers. The consortium serves a population of over 361,000. According to average estimates, each resident produces approximately 0.5 tons of waste per year, which translates to approximately 180,000 tons of waste annually for the entire Vega Baja region.

Currently, the region lacks its own modern recycling infrastructure, so a significant portion of the waste is transported for processing outside the region, to other provinces—primarily Valencia and Cuenca. This model leads to increased transportation costs, a larger carbon footprint, and reliance on external facilities designed primarily to meet the needs of their own territories.

Lagging behind in separate collection. According to the consortium, Vega Baja currently lags behind the average for the Comunidad Valenciana in separate collection.

On average, residents of the region collect approximately 12 kg of paper, cardboard, and lightweight packaging per person per year, while the national average is 16-18 kg.

Particular attention is paid to organic waste: experts estimate that approximately 40% of the contents of gray bins are organics that could be recycled separately, reducing the burden on mixed recycling and landfills.

National and European context. To understand the scale of the problem, it is enough to look at the situation in Spain as a whole. According to the National Statistics Institute, the country generates approximately 22.4 million tons of municipal waste annually, of which only approximately 24% is collected separately. Meanwhile, European environmental policy requires member states to dramatically increase their recycling rates: by 2030, these figures must approach 60% reuse and recycling. This makes investment in sorting and local recycling capacity not just desirable, but mandatory.

Where in Spain is this already working? Experience from other regions shows that a systematic approach yields results:

• La Rioja recycles and reuses up to 66% of its waste, becoming a national leader;

• Catalonia maintains a stable rate of around 57%;

• In the municipality of Sant Josep (Ibiza), the separate collection rate reached 43.5% in 2024, approaching European targets.

At the same time, there are examples where hasty implementation without sufficient public outreach has had little effect – in some cities, organic waste has become contaminated, making compost unusable. This underscores the importance of infrastructure, training, and quality control, not just the installation of new containers. What's changing for the average family? For a family, switching to separate waste means, first and foremost, changing their everyday habits. Typically, waste is separated into at least four categories: glass, paper and cardboard, packaging and plastic, and organic waste.

At first, this may be perceived as an additional responsibility, but over time, many families report a sense of participation in a common cause, especially when children are involved through schools and educational programs.

There's also a financial aspect: a number of municipalities in Spain are implementing systems in which waste collection fees are based on the quality of sorting. The higher the proportion of separate collection, the lower the burden on the overall tariff—and the greater the savings in the long term.

Why the issue has become urgent. According to the consortium's management, the current waste management model in Vega Baja cannot be considered sustainable. Building its own recycling station will:

• reduce logistics costs;

• improve the efficiency of separate collection;

• bring the region closer to European environmental standards;

• reduce the burden on municipal budgets in the medium and long term. An emergency meeting is scheduled for late January, at which technical reports on potential sites for the future facility will be presented. The location remains a sensitive issue, but the consortium emphasizes that the search for a solution is being conducted with due regard for the interests of all municipalities.

Jokers say:

"A European may forget his house keys, but he'll never forget which bin to throw his yogurt cap in."

And there's a grain of truth in this irony: over time, separate waste collection is no longer an obligation but rather a part of everyday culture.