9 December 2003

MADRID – Six out of ten Spaniards recycle their rubbish, according to a survey published Tuesday.

But those who do not take their rubbish to be recycled claimed that special ‘green’ bins were too far away from their homes.

The poll was carried out by Spain’s Federation of Independent Users and Consumers and detailed the recycling habits of the poplution.

According to the survey, exactly how much Spaniards recycle depends on the material.

Seventy-two percent of people said they separate glass from other rubbish and 64 percent separate paper and cardboard. Only 40 percent of those asked separate light packaging.

But more than half of those polled – 54 percent – said they do not take rubbish to be recycled because the containers are too far away from home.

And 29 percent said they had no place in their flats to store material which would later be taken to be recycled. Another 13 percent of those asked said they had difficulties working out what should be recycled.

However, six out of ten – or 62 percent – said that there was not enough information about how to separate different goods for recycling.

Almost a third – or 26 percent – said that they did not know what the “green point” logo meant. The logo is printed on packages to show the companies behind the produce contribute towards recycling.

The majority of those asked, said that recycling was not an issue that they considered when they chose what to buy in the supermarket.

The survey was published as the FIUC awarded prizes to the towns which have the best record for recycling.

Elvira Rodriguez, Environment Minister, and Ana Pastor, Health and Consumer Affairs Minister, gave the top awards to El Prat de Llobregat, in Barcelona,

San Roque, in Cadiz, Espartinas, near Seville, Castro Urdiales, in Cantabria and San Bartolome, in Lanzarote.

Spain is a famously noisy country, particularly in cities which house 80 percent of the population.

Rodriguez said that after traffic fumes, noise pollution was the second most important source of contamination for the environment, especially in towns.

This lead to the country’s first law prohibiting noise pollution.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news