Spain targets waste management reforms to meet EU goals

Spain faces significant challenges in meeting European Union waste management targets, which require reducing landfill use from the current 50% to 10% by 2035. To address this, the business association AEVERSU, which represents facilities that transform non-recyclable waste into energy, has proposed doubling the country's current energy recovery capacity.

Belén Vázquez-Quevedo, secretary general of AEVERSU, emphasized the urgency of acting to meet these goals and called for the suspension of taxes on energy recovery. The association aims to close the recovery cycle by utilizing thermal processes to generate electricity and heat from waste that can no longer be recycled.

In contrast to the national challenge, the Balearic Islands have already achieved one of the primary 2035 objectives nearly a decade early. According to the 'Residuos municipales 2035' state report, only 6.01% of municipal waste in the archipelago currently ends up in landfills, which is below the 10% limit set for 2035. The region is among five Spanish territories, including Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Valencian Community, and Navarra, positioned well to meet future waste management goals.