All major cities and small municipalities in Spain now have yellow containers. After the additions to the colored cube system in Valladolid (2021) and Córdoba (2024), La Coruña launched its own container for local packaging last October: plastic bottles, soft drink cans and cans, cardboard boxes… With this addition, the Galician city adds a fifth container and thus completes the list of provincial capitals that have this system.
The first yellow container arrived in Spain in 1997. This was made possible by Law No. 11/1997 on Packaging and Packaging Waste and was then a pioneer in recycling. After 28 years, there are more than 412,000 yellow cubes spread across the national territory, at a rate of one cube every 150 metres, according to Equimbase estimates. In it, each citizen deposits, on average, 21.4 kilograms of waste annually.
Plastic bottle
Powers
Fusion
Invisibility
fineness
Plastic bottle
Fusion
The cap attached to the mouth of the bottle prevents its loss, thus ensuring its recycling.
Invisibility
The clear container can be the same container again once it is recycled. If it is blue or green, it cannot be transparent.
fineness
The weight of a container like a water bottle has decreased by 18% on average over the past 25 years.
It can be drunk
Powers
lightness
Superior resistance
Maximum recyclability
It can be drunk
lightness
The aluminum case weighs between 12 and 13 grams. Its weight has decreased by 30% over the past 30 years.
Superior resistance
It can hold 90kg vertically, making it easy to stack.
Maximum recyclability
If recycled, 95% less energy would be consumed than when first produced.
Ángel Hervella, Director of Local and Regional Management at Ecoembes, sees this achievement as the result of cooperation between the public and private sectors: “We have been working for many years, together with companies and management, to make recycling a reality throughout the country.” A Coruña is the piece that completes the yellow puzzle: “Now, in addition to harmonizing the colors of containers at a national level, we are making recycling as simple and efficient as possible.”
La Coruna joins
In the city of A Coruña (250 thousand inhabitants), the new fifth container was born from the division of the old yellow container, where so far both the local packaging and the so-called residual part, that is, those materials that are not recyclable, have been disposed of. Now, citizens will have a specific container for home packing (which will retain the yellow color) and a gray one for the rest.
The five recycling containers
The separation stations distinguish between seven different types of materials to properly classify and recycle them. This explains why miscellaneous waste such as a can of canned goods and a jar of sauce are placed in the same bucket.
yellow
Water bottles, soda cans, and cardboard go here, but also aluminum food containers or cans of canned food.
blue
This container contains paper and cardboard packages, such as a shoe box, old newspapers, etc.
green
A green container for glass containers is one into which you can throw a bottle of beer or a jar of vegetables, for example.
brown
The brown container is suitable for organic materials: fruit peels, leftover coffee grounds, garden waste…
ashen
Also known as the residual, all waste that doesn’t fit in the other four buckets is transferred to the gray bin.
Since 2000, La Coruña has been separating its waste between organic and inorganic, but it does not yet have an exclusive container for household packaging, an obligation imposed by Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy. This standard emerges from the 2018 European Directive which sets out the duty to separate waste into five categories: paper and cardboard, household packaging, glass, organics and convenience parts.
In this first phase of the project, promoted by the City Council and in cooperation with Ecoembes, the local government has chosen to put new covers on about 5,000 containers. These lids come in two colours: yellow, with a special opening so that only household containers, such as plastic bottles, can be inserted; And grey.
A solution at the moment that is suitable for a city with the characteristics of A Coruña, as Yuya Neira, an environmental consultant, explains: “With the size of our city, the traffic and the population density, the logical course is to change the container covers rather than install new ones.”
Break
Powers
hybrid
Superior protection
Work environment
Break
hybrid
It is made of three materials: 75% paper, 20% plastic, and 5% aluminium.
Superior protection
Its multi-layer structure protects the food from light and oxygen and allows it to be preserved without refrigeration or preservatives.
Work environment
Their shape makes them easy to stack in large quantities.
Canned foods
Powers
Extra life
longevity
immortality
Canned foods
Extra life
If washed, it can be reused as a container for serving appetizers.
longevity
Being airtight, it prevents the entry of any contaminating agent and ensures the preservation of the food.
immortality
Aluminum, the material with which it is manufactured, can be recycled countless times without losing its properties.
The cardboard box it is sold in goes into the blue bucket
Is pedagogy
The imminent challenge is to do pedagogy. “Now that we have made the final shift to segregation, the challenge is people’s compliance. This involves making the population aware of the importance of this issue and has advantages: more efficient recycling and better economics, because the polluter pays,” understands Neira.
Fernando Blasquez, director of the northern region of Equimpes and director of the A Coruña project, points out that what is most challenging about the transfer is, precisely, the large numerical impact of such a small change: “We estimate about 46,210 jobs linked to packaging recycling in Spain. With the recovery of the materials in 2024, we will provide energy to supply a city like A Coruña for 38 years.”
Sauce jar
Powers
flexibility
Weightlessness
immortality
Sauce jar
flexibility
PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is flexible, allowing the amount of product to be reduced and no food waste to be produced.
Weightlessness
It is so light that it is easy to handle and transport, reducing your carbon footprint.
immortality
It can be recycled countless times without losing its properties. There is no need to rinse it at home before disposing of it.
Aluminum container
Powers
heater
protection
immortality
Aluminum container
heater
Aluminum effectively maintains the heat and temperature of food.
protection
It is a very healthy material. Easily preserves the flavour, freshness and aroma of fresh food.
immortality
It can be recycled countless times without losing its properties.
The cardboard lid this container contains is sometimes thrown into the blue bin.
The installation of the fifth container in La Coruña, which has already spread almost throughout the country, will be completed by the end of the year. Blasquez explains that at the beginning, there is always a “transit period”: “We will find unsuitable waste, of course. But in the short term, the materials will be increasingly refined and will arrive cleaner at the separation plants, which will lead to a higher container recovery rate.”
The most classic mixtures usually occur with the yellow bucket with unpackaged plastic waste: a toy, a broken umbrella, a spatula, a baby bottle… All these things go into the remaining portion. “We always say the same thing: yellow is still mostly used for packaging, and it is the bulk of what we throw away,” Neira sums up. “It is now about ensuring that people in every home have a small bucket for the rest of the waste,” he concludes. “This is the small effort that needs to be made. It is good for us and, above all, for future generations.”
Which REducate, that Ris used, which Rcom. ecycle
If we didn’t recycle in our home, the chain wouldn’t start. The citizen will always be the most important link
Fernando Blasquez
Director, Northern Region, Ekwembis
Working to conclude recycling agreements with the administrations of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country and Navarra
A mining engineer by training, Fernando Blasquez is the Director of the Northern Region (bringing together the autonomous communities of Galicia, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Asturias and Navarra) and represents Ecoembes to the political and technical actors that are part of the recycling cycle. He explains that its mission is to negotiate and promote selective collection agreements with public administrations and ensure compliance with them. “And always do it with technical, economic and environmental efficiency,” he says. “Once these agreements are signed, we must work to increase collection rates and reduce waste going to landfill.”
In his daily life, Blasquez sees a greater interest and involvement in caring for the planet: “Yes, we have noticed a big change in these years and a continuous growth in recycling.” However, he points out that there is still “some resistance, and some French villages must be overcome”: “We have to work so that everyone separates their rubbish. It is simple work, but it has a very high return.” He emphasizes the essential role of every home: “No matter what departments and companies work, if we do not recycle at home, the chain will not start. The citizen will always remain the most important link.”