How To Separate And Recycle Trash In Spain? [Trash Guide In English]

Separating trash is one of the most basic tasks that you will need to carry out every day starting from your first day here. So it is best to know all about the entire procedure to avoid any unnecessary confusion.

Today, recycling in Spain is a lot more efficient than it was a few years ago, even if the rate remains lower than in a lot of other countries in the European Union. It is interesting to note that regions like the Balearic Islands produce a lot more waste per inhabitant (800 kg) compared to the Community of Madrid (363 kg). Due to the large amounts of waste produced, a lot of autonomous communities in Spain are focused on either reducing their waste or increasing rates of recycling.

Why Is Spain So Good At Recycling?

Spain has seen many improvements in its recycling rates over the last few years. Currently, 43.3% of all waste in Spain is being recycled or reused in some way. Some of this is used for generating energy, some is being recycled while the rest is used for composting. However, it must be noted that this rate is below the European Union’s average rate of 52%.

How Many Trash Bins Are Common In Spanish Homes?

Usually, there are five different kinds of trash bins in Spain:

• Blue bin
• Yellow bin
• Green bin
• Gray bin
• Brown bin (but not all places will have this option)

How Do You Separate Trash In A Spanish Home?

The ideal option is to put the trash in their respective containers to begin with, and not wait until you have accumulated all the trash and then separate it. The latter will involve a lot more hassle, not to mention it isn’t exactly fun to sort through a bag full of smelly garbage at the end of a day. So what is the correct way to sort your trash, and where should you put it? Read on to know all the details.

Blue Bin = Clean Paper And Cardboard

This bin is marked for all sorts of paper products. These can include newspapers and magazines, receipts or other kinds of paper, moving boxes and cardboard packages, boxes for cereal or other food like pasta. All of these are clean paper products only. If you have empty containers of boxed milk or broth etc. those boxes belong in a different bin!

The recycled material from this bin will be used to make cardboard boxes, toilet paper, recycled paper and dumpster bags to be used at construction sites. You do not need to worry yourself about the hygiene of this entire process because there is a rigorous industrial cleaning process involved before this paper can be fit for use.

Yellow Bin = Packaging

The yellow bins are called the contenador amarillo and they will contain most of the products that we use in our homes. All of your plastic containers like those for yogurt and butter, cleaning products and soda bottles will go here, and so will metal cans like those for canned food items. You will also dispose of boxes for food items like milk and broth, aluminum foil and cling wrap, and any other bags of fresh pasta and rice in this bin.

Since this bin has a large variety of different types of packaging that will be disposed, the materials will be sent to a recycling center in the city. Here, workers will separate and compact the plastic which will be distributed for other purposes. A lot of products today use recycled plastic for their packaging which is a very encouraging sign in reducing plastic.

Green Bin = Glass

The green bin is for glass items only. So all your bottles of olive oil, vinegar, pasta sauce, salad dressing, jam as well as beer and wine bottles will go here. Even your cosmetics of perfume bottles will go here once they’re empty. But remember: you must take off their cork/cap or lids before putting the glass containers here. Those items will go in a separate bin.

The recycled material from here will be used to make new glass bottles and jars for storing similar products (so it is pretty much a cyclical process) and in some cases could even be used to make light bulbs.

Brown Bin = Compost (But Not All Cities Will Have This Option)

This will include all your food scraps and leftovers like fruit and vegetable peels, leftover pieces of meat, coffee grounds, shells from food, corks, used matches, pet food and any other garden or plant scraps. All of this material will be used to make compost and fertilizer. This can then be used in the city parks for better soil quality or sometimes used as material for natural gas.

Gray Bin = Residual Waste Or Leftovers

The rest of your waste goes here, so basically anything that cannot be recycled and doesn’t fit into any of the above categories. So things like diapers and feminine products, ceramic shards and dust, wet wipes for household use, cigarette butts and animal feces and litter sand etc. will go here. In some places, this might be an orange colored bin instead.

What Do I Need To Know About The Deposit?

Spain has recently introduced a Deposit Return System (DRS) that will help retain the value of materials like glass bottles by reusing them. When buying cans and bottles, consumers will make a deposit of 10 cents. They can claim back this amount if they return the bottle to said store for recycling.

Special Waste Disposal In Spain

Some items are too big to fit in any of the categories above, or are simply too dangerous. Read on to see how to dispose of these special items:

Electronics, Batteries And Light Bulbs

Batteries will typically need to be returned to supermarkets. You will find small drums located near the cash or checkout counters or a main doorway. The electronics or electrical appliances on the other hand will need to be brought to a recycling center near you.

Paint And Lacquers

Chemical or hazardous waste, which can include detergents, paint, varnish, cartridges and toners etc. will need to be deposited at a recycling center (eco-parque). In some places, you might find a red bin for hazardous waste, but this is very rare.

Old Clothes And Shoes

You can deposit these at a clothes bank. Most neighborhoods will have special containers for these. There might even be some smaller local groups that take used clothes from people’s houses to sell them or give them away to people in need. And if you wish, you can always donate them to an organization or place of your own choosing.

Furniture And Bulky Items

Any bigger pieces of trash and furniture can simply be put next to the trash containers. You can then call up your municipality and they will come over to collect it. Even otherwise, every municipality will regularly come to collect items like these a few times a week. In case you want it picked up from your home, you can call up the appropriate number in advance too. 

Sometimes, you will find that someone else might have picked it up even before the municipality truck comes over. Just because you don’t have a need for it anymore doesn’t mean that someone else won’t either. This is actually also a great chance to upcycle or swap items. You might find a lot of people looking around to find a piece of furniture that they can improve on and add to their own homes.

Christmas Tree Disposal

Once Christmas is over, you will also need to do something about that beautiful tree you got for the occasion. Sometimes, people might choose to replant it to see it grow. If you are not one of those and are looking to dispose of the tree, there are several options available to you. Most municipalities will have designated collection points where you can deposit the trees. Some regions might also have collection services in place where municipality trucks will come around to collect the tree directly from your home. In most cases, these trees will be pulped and then left to decompose. This will then be used as mulching, which is used to improve the quality of the soil. Be sure to remove any decorations before you send out the tree though.

The Spanish Waste Management Calendar 

Each autonomous area and even municipality will usually have its own schedule of waste pickup. You will need to make sure that you dispose of all your trash in the dedicated bins before the specified pickup time so it is taken away on time, otherwise you will have to wait a few days (or even a week for some categories) for the next collection.

Trash is picked up daily in most cases; paper, plastics and other cartons every other day; and glass pickup is weekly. This schedule is usually for residential areas and the collection schedule in commercial areas will vary. Collection is also usually done at night to avoid the daily traffic, and cleaning and washing services will be done in most areas too.

Spanish Recycling Fines

Waste segregation is an extremely important step in getting rid of your garbage. If you do not do this, it might end up mixed in landfills and disrupt the recycling process. Civic authorities in your area are responsible for providing citizens with all of the necessary recycling aids. Despite this, if you do not separate your garbage as required in Spain, you can be fined anywhere between 90 to 250 euros for smaller offenses. More recently, there have been some cases of fines up to 2000 euros for leaving cardboard boxes outside the designated trash bins instead of inside them. So be very careful about your behavior in this regard.

For more serious infractions, offenders should be prepared for penalties from 2000 to 100,000 euros. Whereas very serious offenses can cost upwards of this with fines going up to 3.5 million euros as well! Of course, these huge fines will usually not apply to individuals but are more likely to be charged to commercial entities.

Conclusion

Hopefully this guide has given you all the details you need to know about separating your trash in Spain and not getting in any trouble in the process. The country is improving its recycling standards every year, and the strictness of rules in this regard is also increasing with time. But it is not altogether very difficult; with a little practice, you will be comfortable with the process very soon.