Recycling machine that pays in Navarre, Spain: ecology or marketing?
In 2011 Pamplona installed a machine that gave out cinema tickets for recycling bottles. Why did the deposit-return system never take off in Spain?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Recycling for cinema tickets: the Pamplona machine that brings back the container swap
In January 2011, the Mancomunidad de la Comarca de Pamplona (the Pamplona regional commonwealth) installed a pioneering machine in Spain on Calle Ciudadela: insert a plastic bottle or a can and get a point redeemable for cinema tickets. The experiment promised to encourage recycling with an instant reward, but fifteen years later, the debate over its effectiveness and the waste management model remains open.
A model that already existed: container returns in the 80s
The system is nothing new. In Spain, during the 1980s and early 90s, returnable glass containers were handed back at shops and supermarkets in exchange for 25 pesetas per small bottle. "Many afternoons I'd go out with some friends for a free snack, because it wasn't hard to find bottles," one participant recalls. That circuit was dismantled with the arrival of single-use containers and today's system of recycling points and bins.
The Norway example: getting paid 1-3 kroner per container to recycle
In countries like Norway, the deposit-return system works on a large scale. For every can of beer or juice, and every plastic soda bottle, between 1 and 3 kroner are refunded (about €0.10-0.30). Some people make a small fortune collecting cans and bottles from bins. The machine detects the type of container and sorts it automatically. In other countries, such as Mexico, the system is different: the bottle is charged in the price, and people, to avoid paying the deposit, pour the soda into a bag.
The recycling business: who profits from our waste?
The recurring criticism is that citizens hand over their containers for free to recycling companies, which also receive public subsidies. "Imagine how much money recycling companies make if we give them all those products for free," some point out. Pamplona's system, modest as it was, raises an alternative: if the financial incentive is big enough, people respond. But success depends on the size of the reward. At 50 cents per container, as seen with some machines in other countries, the streets would clean themselves.
Pamplona's initiative ended up as a footnote. The real leap forward would be implementing a deposit-return system like Norway's, with values high enough that collecting containers is not charity but a market. Meanwhile, we keep paying taxes so that others manage what elsewhere is already paid for at the counter.
Related forum discussions
In January 2011, the Mancomunidad de la Comarca de Pamplona (the Pamplona regional commonwealth) installed a pioneering machine in Spain on Calle Ciudadela: insert a plastic bottle or a can and get a point redeemable for cinema tickets. The experiment promised to encourage recycling with an instant reward, but fifteen years later, the debate over its effectiveness and the waste management model remains open.
A model that already existed: container returns in the 80s
The system is nothing new. In Spain, during the 1980s and early 90s, returnable glass containers were handed back at shops and supermarkets in exchange for 25 pesetas per small bottle. "Many afternoons I'd go out with some friends for a free snack, because it wasn't hard to find bottles," one participant recalls. That circuit was dismantled with the arrival of single-use containers and today's system of recycling points and bins.
The Norway example: getting paid 1-3 kroner per container to recycle
In countries like Norway, the deposit-return system works on a large scale. For every can of beer or juice, and every plastic soda bottle, between 1 and 3 kroner are refunded (about €0.10-0.30). Some people make a small fortune collecting cans and bottles from bins. The machine detects the type of container and sorts it automatically. In other countries, such as Mexico, the system is different: the bottle is charged in the price, and people, to avoid paying the deposit, pour the soda into a bag.
The recycling business: who profits from our waste?
The recurring criticism is that citizens hand over their containers for free to recycling companies, which also receive public subsidies. "Imagine how much money recycling companies make if we give them all those products for free," some point out. Pamplona's system, modest as it was, raises an alternative: if the financial incentive is big enough, people respond. But success depends on the size of the reward. At 50 cents per container, as seen with some machines in other countries, the streets would clean themselves.
Pamplona's initiative ended up as a footnote. The real leap forward would be implementing a deposit-return system like Norway's, with values high enough that collecting containers is not charity but a market. Meanwhile, we keep paying taxes so that others manage what elsewhere is already paid for at the counter.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (16 replies).
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