The Santa Cruz City Council has proceeded to publish the final approval of the municipal ordinance on Waste Management and Cleaning of Public Spaces for a Circular Economy. This new rule introduces some substantial changes, one of the most striking is the ban on smoking on the beaches of the municipality from next January 16, the date on which the ordinance will come into force, after it was published yesterday by the Bulletin Official of the Province, becoming effective in 15 business days.
This prohibition is expressly included in article 43, the one referring to beaches and bathing areas, which states that “in order to avoid the presence of cigarette butts in the sand and the potential subsequent contamination of the coast, smoking is prohibited in the beaches and bathing areas of the municipality, except in areas specially authorized by the City Council. From the Public Services area, promoter of this new ordinance, headed by the mayor Carlos Tarife, it is planned to delimit areas for smokers, in the part closest to the kiosks.
This article also establishes that it is prohibited for users of the beaches and bathing areas of the municipality to deposit any type of waste directly on the sand or rocks, having to use the bins installed for this purpose according to the fraction of waste generated or transport it. to a container or alternative deposit system installed in the public space.
Regarding the kiosks, “the people who own beach bars, kiosks, restaurants and the like near the beaches or located inside them must avoid the production of scattered garbage, having to have the necessary containers or elements for it and being responsible for their disposal.” collection and cleaning during the hours of exercise of the activity and at the end of this. Likewise, the use of single-use plastics is prohibited in the exercise of these activities.
Fees and prohibitions
And it is that the new norm introduces all the actions related to the promotion of the circular economy, already regulated by a state norm in force since April of this year. Among the novelties that it incorporates there are issues such as the implementation of the fifth container; the implementation of a return system for plastic and glass containers, or the possibility of creating a fee that allows the implementation of payment systems for the generation of waste, so that whoever generates the most waste pays more.
Regarding the cleaning of public spaces and what refers to the prohibitions and duties, it is prohibited to dirty the public space in any way, either by throwing chewing gum, pipes, cigarettes or similar, including private lots, whose cleaning is responsible to its owners, who will have the obligation to proceed with its closure.
The sanctions are also increased, so that leaving garbage outside the container can lead to fines ranging from 2,000 euros to 100,000, an infraction that has gone from being minor to very serious.
