The Council changes the paradigm of collection for the waste tax to the 31 municipalities of the Island. It does so on the basis of the “new and ambitious” contract for more than 700 million euros, the most important in the history of the institution, awarded last year to the UTE Nivaria (Urbaser-FCC / Saspe) for waste management that arrives at the Tenerife Environmental Complex (CAT), located in Arico. We must comply with what Europe sets and it is very clear: “Whoever pollutes, pays.” This is assured by Javier Rodríguez Medina, island councilor for Sustainable Development and the Fight against Climate Change. It thus responds to the Popular Party’s complaint, through the counselor Valentín González, that from the second half of next year “it is intended to raise the rate by more than six points, to 14.5%, a real blow.” Rodríguez Medina clarifies: «Increase that 14% for those who do not separate at origin. Those who do will have a discount of up to 10%.
The PSOE counselor explains to put in context that «Until 1985, when the PIRS was created, there was no model in island waste management but more than 200 illegal landfills where the garbage accumulated until it was clogged and then had to be burned. There was nothing else.
On that date, he adds, “the contract with the Vertresa UTE company for 30 years begins.” It expires on December 31, 2015 without the possibility of an extension and, says the counselor, “for six years it has been maintained, as it is an essential service, without fully complying with it and with the annual intervention repair.”
Medina underlines: «The president Pedro Martin He orders me to put an end to this situation because it is an administrative anomaly and because of the search for a more sustainable model in waste management. And this is what we have done with this new contract that includes multiple improvements.
“The rate rises for those who do not comply, but falls by 10% for those who separate at origin”
One of the fundamental axes of the new model is that “Who pollutes, pays”, something that, he adds, “marks Europe as in other similar areas, in the case of the greenhouse effect or pollution from vehicles.”
The current contract, which, the counselor acknowledges, “is more expensive and that is why we propose an increase in rates, but for those municipalities that do not want to go along the lines of sustainability. Those who do do so with the separation at origin, will have, on the other hand, a discount of up to 10% “. The Socialist councilor recalls that «there are two sections that the new contract marks:« The A establishes the selective collection and there it goes from the current rate of 3.66 (euro per inhabitant) to 3.30; in B, the waste by mass, was 41.57 (euro per ton) until reaching 47.60 ».
A) Yes It has been communicated to the 31 municipalities of the Island through a circular. In other words, Rodríguez Medina argues, “the municipalities that do not follow the line of separating in origin, the one established by Europe, will pay more.” He sums it up in one sentence: “The new rate does not raise an increase but a decrease for those municipalities that separate in origin (through the fifth container, the organic one, basically).” Rodríguez Medina concludes with an explanation of the powers of public administrations: «The Cabildo manages waste but does not collect it. Each municipality has its own contract in this area ”.
“Scandalous rise”
Valentín González, for his part, describes the rise as “scandalous”: «This blow to the town councils and citizens is incomprehensible in a context of unprecedented economic crisis like the present one. González Évora recalls that “the Cabildo will impose this measure, due to a regulatory change, as of the second quarter of 2022.” In the first, you will have to complete various procedures such as the publication of the new rates. The popular councilor calculates that “they will get 3.6 million euros more (1.9 for an increase in collection and another 1.6 for the increase in the variation of tons and inhabitants”.
“They increase their tax collection effort, but are inefficient in valuation”
He considers it “a direct attack on the pockets of Tenerife people.” And he emphasizes: “This Cabildo systematically punishes municipalism, in an unfair and unsupportive way, as is staged in the case of Arico.” He explains: «His neighbors not only have to bear the consequences of having the Environmental Complex in their territory, but also They will have to pay this year almost 300,000 euros in fees, without the Cabildo complying with the agreements that both administrations have historically signed to compensate the southern municipality for hosting the CAT, where the waste generated throughout the island goes ”.
González sums up: “The island government increases its tax collection effort, but continues to be inefficient in the waste recovery process.” The PP calculates that “the rate will increase by up to six points and 14.5% in 2022, as reflected in the estimates for next year for each city council.”
Valentín González insists on describing this rise as “scandalous” because “the island government fails to comply with all the objectives set in the process for the recovery of solid waste.”
