New rubbish tax proposals for Palma

"Either we reduce the amount of waste being generated in Palma or the situation will become unsustainable within a very short time,” said Emaya President and Environment Councillor, Ramon Perpinyà. “The volume of junk has grown by 58% in the last 4 years and packaging and paper has increased by 20%".

Councillor Perpinyà is considering a three-pronged attack:

A Waste Tax

Less packaging

Reduced discarded water bottles & containers.

If a Waste Tax is introduced, places that generate more waste, such as hotels and shopping centres would be charged a higher price, but Councillor Perpinyà admits there might be complications.

“It’s difficult to tax individuals because you can't weigh the rubbish every single person throws away,” said Councillor Perpinyà. “We will start with brown containers that can only be opened with a Citizen's Card and apply a series of bonuses and incentives each time they are used.”

The possibility of a pay per use service is also being considered, which would involve collecting rubbish from people’s homes, but Councillor Perpinyà insists that nothing has been decided yet.

Less packaging

Secondly, Cort wants to cut down the amount of packaging materials being used.

"Campaigns will be launched to promote reusable packaging,” said Councillor Perpinyà.

Water Containers

The Government also wants to reduce the amount of discarded water bottles and containers.

"It is vital that we raise awareness and persuade people to consume more tap water,” he said. "Tap water may taste of chlorine, which is required by law, but that flavour completely disappears when a water filter is used, without the need to use a reverse osmosis system.”

Reduce, Repair & Reuse

Councillor Perpinyà emphasised the need to "reduce, repair and reuse" and said Cort plans to sign agreements with companies such as Remar or Deixalles.

"They can repair and reuse things that people throw away,” he said. “ We want to set up repair shops in green areas of the city so that items can be used by someone else."