Smart recycling has already promoted 500 social projects

Beloved Blacksmith

Updated Saturday, March 16, 2024-18:42

Create a virtuous circle that allows waste to be reduced and reused, while promoting solidarity and supporting social causes.

That is the objective of RECICLOS, the Return and Reward System (SDR) that allows citizens to accumulate points for recycling.

More than 585,000 people have already received these redeemable rewards by depositing their cans and plastic bottles in specially equipped containers.

Thus, citizens who use this system can help vulnerable groups, protect the environment or simply participate in raffles with a gesture as simple as recycling.

The SDR developed by Ecoembes, the environmental organization that coordinates recycling in Spain, has been growing until it is present in more than 44,000 yellow containers in 152 municipalities in all the autonomous communities, to which the necessary technology has been incorporated so that the User can receive these rewards every time they introduce their containers.

In addition, more than 300 additional machines have been installed in high-traffic points such as transport stations, universities, hospitals or shopping centres, to facilitate recycling also outside the home.

Citizens who use this system, implemented since 2019, have been able to collaborate in the last four years with more than 500 solidarity projects from organizations such as the Food Bank, the Spanish Association Against Cancer, the Red Cross, the Great Friends Foundation or Children's Villages.

Various environmental causes have also

been supported, such as the recovery of the bearded vulture,

the protection of salt flats and vineyards or the promotion of green areas in different municipalities.

One of those environmental examples is the RECICLOS Forest, which was born from a collaboration with the reforestation company ReTree.

This project has made it possible to recover burned areas in which more than 10,000 trees have already been reforested in different areas of the Madrid mountains, such as in the Valley of Dreams, declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2005 for its exceptional ecosystems.

"The RECICLOS Forest is located in the heart of the Madrid mountains, a very interesting area to repopulate,

since it suffered fires and very strong agricultural overexploitation," explains Pedro Pérez de Ayala, CEO and founder of ReTree.

"Reforestation is essential to regenerate the organic matter in the soil and turn the forest into a balanced ecosystem with biodiversity that in turn absorbs CO2. Also to stop erosion."

In addition to using native plants such as holm oaks, melojos, pines, juniper and juniper - with the EU passport and quality certificate to promote adaptation to the environment - they have placed insect hotels to promote the recovery of biodiversity.

Digitalization systems will also be used to monitor the status of each of the trees in real time.

With this reforestation project they aim to revitalize the region, recovering the ecosystem, generating employment and giving visibility to this area.

Pine forests, oak groves, holly, holm oak and ash will make up this RECICLOS forest, which aims to repopulate an area of ​​more than 90,000m2, with which it is estimated that 36,426 kg of CO2 will be absorbed.

The Clean Sea

Another of these environmental projects is 'La Mar de Limpio', an environmental education campaign to raise awareness about the importance of caring for and protecting the marine environment.

The goal is to promote the reuse, recycling and saving of materials, as well as to illuminate solutions that help reduce our ecological footprint.

It also seeks to actively involve society in the elimination of marine and river litter, promoting environmental volunteering as a necessary tool to improve the environment, educate and actively clean rivers and beaches.

A volunteer team has already organized

40 waste cleaning days

and a traveling exhibition in ten autonomous communities over the next year.

Those dealing with beaches will have the subtitle of 'The Clean Sea', those on rivers will have the subtitle of 'Socially Involved Citizenship'.

CSI Ríos'.

"The most important value of our collaboration with Ecoembes is that our educational and environmental project is chosen, selected by many anonymous people who prefer to help an NGO like ours with their money or their vote, rather than obtaining a material gift. ; without forgetting that the different social and economic agents must collaborate more and more to improve our relationship with the planet," says Roberto Lozano, president of Fundación Oxígeno.

In addition, the same foundation carries out a second project in collaboration with Ecoembes: '1,000 and 1 BEES.

Pollinators essential for life', which aims to raise awareness among citizens.

"Pollinating insects are essential for life on the planet, their function is essential for humans and other species," says Roberto Lozano.

"Agriculture, biodiversity and the landscape depend on pollinators, without them there is no life."

Thus, between February and June of this year there will be a traveling exhibition with guided tours in Catalonia and Galicia, with 40 educational workshops and 1,200 participants (schoolchildren, associations and the general public).

In addition to two training courses for the beekeeping sector, which aims to raise awareness about the socio-environmental and economic benefits of more traditional and sustainable beekeeping.

Circular Economy Series carried out in collaboration with the

Ecoembes organization.