Carlos Tarife (PP), the Public Services Representative of Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, will be stationed on a chair in different areas of the city to ensure that residents are properly disposing of their waste into the containers.
Tarife has raised concerns over the 28 areas in Santa Cruz where residents are leaving garbage on the street or in plant beds due to the containers being relocated only about 20-40 meters to “harmonize the islands” and aid recycling. However, many other factors, overlooked by the representative, contribute to residents, including those in the city centre, having to leave bags outside the containers. For instance, in the city centre, where several containers are underground, they fill rapidly, making it hard to even open them due to the pile of bags inside. Many residents resort to leaving bags next to the container to be taken away when the collection truck arrives.
Moreover, the accumulation of waste from businesses, such as shops and restaurants, in the same containers as residential waste leads to quick filling, resulting in instances where container islands are overflowing, especially with large cardboard boxes. Another reason for bag disposal outside the container is when it doesn’t fit through the narrow opening of an underground mailbox-type container, or when it can’t open due to a bag jammed inside.
Rather than addressing issues with the types of containers being used, Tarife solely blames residents’ lack of awareness. He has announced that he will be sitting in a chair at these 28 identified spots in the afternoons “to engage with residents as they dispose of their waste and emphasize the need to preserve the city’s aesthetics,” as disclosed in statements to Canarian Television reported by EFE.

This initiative, named the chair campaign, will kick off next Tuesday at 5 Luis Celso Guadalupe Avenue in the Añaza neighbourhood, followed by Ofra the next day.
Tarife highlighted that the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has conducted various awareness programmes, updated regulations, and imposed initial fines, with the latest being a €2,000 fine to a restaurant worker in the central area for depositing four cardboard bags outside the allocated container and beyond designated hours.
However, he believes that “more actions are necessary to curb these entirely uncivil behaviours,” hence the upcoming chair campaign
Service Complaints
Waste collection in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been a subject of complaints for several years. In 2022, complaints about the service rose by 30%, exceeding 721 monthly complaints. As per Ramón Trujillo, a Unidas Podemos councilor, the City Council’s technical staff had determined that Valoriza, the company handling the service, was unable to efficiently handle the collection of belongings and bulky waste due to staffing and resource shortages. Consequently, in 2021, the José Manuel Bermúdez government, the current mayor, decided to reduce the service to once a week, down from the initially agreed five-day service.
Trujillo pointed out that Valoriza secured the cleaning service concession “by providing a €2 million discount on the contract price and offering the lowest number of job positions compared to the five competing companies for the concession.”