"We must continue to contribute to ensuring that plastic containers and cans do not reach the sea or remain as waste in the environment," said the president of the Commonwealth."
The Mancomunidad del Sureste and Ecoembes, the non-profit environmental organization that coordinates packaging recycling in Spain, have launched the RECICLOS project in the region. It is a Return and Reward System (SDR) that offers incentives to citizens as a reward for recycling plastic beverage cans and bottles.
“We must continue to contribute to ensuring that plastic containers and cans do not reach the sea or remain as waste in the environment,” said the president of the Southeast Commonwealth and mayor of Ingenio, Ana Hernández, who highlighted the importance of this initiative. to “increase recycling and become more sustainable.”
Ana Hernández, president of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria and mayor of Ingenio; Óscar Hernández, mayor of Agüimes; Francisco García, mayor of Santa Lucía de Tirajana; Juan Carlos Arranz, manager of Ecoembes in the Canary Islands; and Carlota Cruz, spokesperson for Ecoembes in the Canary Islands, have presented this recycling system that rewards citizens.
Juan Carlos Arranz pointed out that “it is important to promote beneficial habits in all possible areas of daily life, such as recycling and caring for the environment”, for which he thanked the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria for the trust placed in it. in RECICLOS, and hoped that the project would be well received by the residents of the region.
Thanks to this reward system, families in Ingenio, Agüimes and Santa Lucía committed to recycling will be able to recycle their cans and plastic beverage bottles in the yellow containers, as they usually do, but now they will be able to receive incentives for doing so through this system that incorporates mobile technology to the yellow containers already installed on public roads.
The nearly 150.000 inhabitants of the region will thus be able to help improve the environment through social or environmental projects, while giving a new life to packaging by promoting its circularity.
Among the currently active projects, families from Ingenio, Agüimes and Santa Lucía will be able to donate their points to collaborate with Children's Villages to help families affected by the earthquakes in Syria or with the Association of Relatives and Friends of People with Alzheimer's and Related Dementia (ALDEFA), whose objective is to improve the quality of life of people with Alzheimer's and other dementias, as well as that of their families.
However, the projects will be renewed and rotated; Every time they reach the level of RECYCLES that have been proposed in each case, a new project will be entered with the option of receiving the points that citizens accumulate.
To use this system, you just have to download the free RECICLOS app and, at home, scan the barcode of the can or plastic bottle you want to recycle before throwing it in the trash. Before depositing the bag of packaging to be recycled in one of the 718 yellow containers located in the region, you must scan the QR code located on the container so that you can obtain points, called RECYCLES, which can be exchanged for the different rewards that available.
In addition to the Southeast region, this SDR has also been present since 2022 in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and since 2021 in the Tenerife municipality of Granadilla de Abona.
