Adults caught disposing of waste in the wrong bins will receive a green, yellow, or red card as a warning. The enforcers of this new measure are the children of the municipality, the stars of the fresh campaign ‘Los Realejos strives to reduce its environmental impact’, which aims to promote recycling awareness and enhance the current selective waste collection rates in the area.
The campaign was unveiled yesterday at the City Hall by the Mayor, Adolfo González, and the representative from the communication company behind the initiative, Elena Hernández Yanes. Also in attendance were the councillors for Municipal Services and the Environment, Domingo García and Alexis Hernández, respectively, and the manager of the local services company and campaign promoter, Realserv, Ricardo Ramírez.
Ramírez pointed out that Los Realejos ranks average in the Canary Islands for cardboard paper selective collection, with 9.4 kilos per inhabitant per year, while packaging stands at 14 kilos.
The campaign, co-funded and supported by Ecoembes, targets both citizens and the commercial sector of the municipality and will be promoted through the municipality’s social media channels, distribution of leaflets, and airing of commercials on local television. Cutters will also be provided to businesses to simplify the process of breaking down cardboard boxes for disposal after folding them.
González stressed the importance of instilling good recycling habits in the day-to-day lives of residents to ensure that they properly recycle the various waste materials they produce. Furthermore, he mentioned the availability of the Ecoembes Intelligent Recycling Assistant (AIRE) as an app for smartphones and tablets, which offers instant guidance on the correct disposal of different types of waste and the corresponding recycling bins. The containers in the municipality are yellow (for packaging), blue (for paper and cardboard), brown (for food and organic waste), and two green ones, one for general waste and the other for glass containers.
Hernández cleared up some misconceptions, such as the belief that containers need to be washed before being placed in the yellow bin.
