Evolution of sorted waste collection: a case study of Spanish cities

This work analyses how selective collection evolved over the period 1998-2007 in Spanish towns and cities with more than 50 000 inhabitants. To do so, both the legislation in force during the years included in the study and logistic factors, such as the radius of action of the pick-up points, were taken into account. Information about the towns and cities was obtained from a survey sent out in 1998 and 2007 to the councils of the municipalities included in the study. The results obtained in the two years show that the most widely implemented separate collection system in 1998 no longer existed in 2007 but, in order to comply with the law, had been transformed by adding new fractions, above all that of lightweight packaging. To determine whether the targets set by law as regards recovery and recycling were met in the two years, an efficiency indicator was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the collection systems. Results show how separation increased in the paper/board and glass fractions.