The city of Girona has begun implementing a new waste collection system using smart containers. From now on, there will be a separate container for each type of waste, and residents can dispose of their waste any day of the week and at any time of day. An identification card is still required to open the containers.

In 2026, Girona will begin a significant change in its waste collection system. After months of neighborhood complaints, antisocial behavior, and dirty streetsThe Girona city council has decided to put an end to the revolution of the multi-fraction container model, implemented just a year agoThis system, a pioneering one in Catalonia, required residents to dispose of each type of waste—plastic, organic, paper, or general waste—in a specific container, which could only be opened with a smart card, according to a schedule set for each day of the week. However, the model failed to gain traction with the public, and litter scattered around the containers has been a constant problem. Therefore, starting this January, the classic colored containers, one for each type of waste, are returning, allowing residents to dispose of the corresponding waste any day and at any time of the week. The smart card is still required to open the containers. The external company responsible for the city's waste collection service is Girona +Neta, and to implement these substantial changes, the city council had to modify the contract inherited from the previous administration of former mayor Marta Madrenes. During the first months of implementation, the new tripartite governing team has already made specific modifications and applied sanctions to the company for service malfunctions, but this latest measure is the most drastic. As the months have passed, it has become clear that the original contract terms failed to anticipate the enormous complexity of changing the entire waste collection system in a city of over 100,000 inhabitants, so the City Council has had to react as events unfolded. This is especially true in response to complaints and apathy from some residents, who, the dirtier the city became, the less they cooperated, leaving furniture, appliances, and all kinds of trash in the streets as a form of protest and boycott. "We haven't obtained the cooperation we expected," the municipal government acknowledges. In fact, during 2025, the Municipal Police issued more than 1,000 fines for violations of the waste ordinance.

The fashion industry is one of the sectors with the greatest environmental and climate impact globally. Nearly 100 billion garments are sold worldwide each year, and textile consumption is one of the most intensive in its use of raw materials, water, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 15,000 tons of waste The waste that has been accumulating for years at the Iberboard factory in Alt Camp will begin to be removed within 15 days, according to the company's commitment. The plant is located on the Francolí River, right where the river forms the natural border between Alcover and Picamoixons, at the foot of the Prades Mountains. The residents of these two towns, who while the factory was operating had to endure unpleasant odors and noise and light pollution exceeding what is permitted by regulations, have been demanding the removal of all this waste since the company suspended its operations just over a year ago. They feared that a flood would sweep away all the waste—including toxic waste—or that a fire could spread and the flames would find devastating fuel.

In the Barcelona area, recycling isn't enough. With selective collection rates stagnating at 38.8%—some towns not even reaching 30%—the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) announced this Thursday its plan to change its model, given that the European mandate to recycle 55% of municipal waste is being violated. Thus, by 2035, the supra-municipal body plans to invest €673 million in the construction of ten specialized waste treatment plants and redesign some of the current ones to minimize waste generation, promote the reuse of materials, and improve waste separation rates at source—that is, the proportion of waste collected from our homes.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has conducted a detailed analysis of the ecological impacts of new fashion consumption trends. He fast fashion and theultra fast fashion are a concern within the organization, according to Elisa Tonga, head of the Resources and Markets branch within the Industry and Economics Division of this UN agency. Her department, in fact, works to promote efficient use of resources in all industrial sectors, not just textiles, and Tonga also contributes her experience as former head of Production and Consumption at UNEP.

Núria Casacuberta Arola (Malla, 1982) is an environmental scientist, researcher, and professor of physical and tracer oceanography at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). She uses radioactive isotopes released into the oceans to study ocean currents in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and how climate change is modifying them, which will have profound implications for the Earth's climate.

Twenty years ago, reusable cups began to gain popularity to reduce the accumulation of plastic waste during local festivals. In Catalonia, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) pioneered the returnable cup system with deposit, and the model spread to municipalities such as Molins de Rei, Rubí, and Girona. More and more administrations have taken the step of eliminating disposable cups, and now major social and cultural events and music festivals are doing so, as required by law. However, the Rezero Foundation notes that behind compliance with the law lies "a business model" based on greenwashing (greenwashing, in English).

Currently, nearly a third (31.7%) of the waste generated ends up in one of the 25 landfills available in the country. However, according to the targets set by the European Union, these controlled landfills should only be the final destination for a maximum of 10% of municipal waste. Although government sources have positive assessments of waste collection and treatment in recent years, the data show that Catalonia is still far from meeting European targets. Given this scenario, one of the measures the government is proposing to close the gap involves closing half of its landfills.

There are factories for everything, and the Dapibus plant is an example of this. No one would imagine that a fly larva could be used to feed pigs and chickens, even pets, but this is the "most sustainable and local" commercial proposal of this biotechnology company based in Abrera.

In 2018, China had had enough. It accounted for half of the world's plastic exports and, tired of being the "planet's dumping ground," banned them from entering. The EU, which exported three million tons to China, was forced to get its act together, and organizations that had been fighting for a waste-free society for years saw how the Chinese ban accelerated the implementation of circular economy policies. Finally, Europe was learning that the way to be resilient is through self-sufficiency.

In 2022, Catalans will generate 3.8 million tons of waste. But, of all that mountain, only 1.7 million tons were selectively collected. Thus, garbage separated at source, in homes or businesses, stands at 45%. It is a slightly better figure than the data from the previous year (0.3% more waste was separated) but, nevertheless, it is well below the European objectives, which were set to reach 50% of separated waste in 2020 and reach 55% by 2025.

Carrying three chargers with you – one for your mobile phone, one for your tablet and one for your laptop – is a common nuisance (and a mess of cables) for European citizens that the European Commission is proposing to eliminate. It's not just the inconvenience of carrying this many cables, it's also the environmental cost of making them and also disposing of them at current consumption rates. On Thursday, Brussels proposed revising a European directive to force manufacturers of smartphones, tablets, computers and game consoles to use the same charging technology.