The implementation of door-to-door collection in Sant Andreu ends with changes after complaints from residents

This Monday, the Barcelona City Council has finished implementing various adjustments to door-to-door collection in the Sant Andreu de Palomar neighborhood, after numerous complaints received from residents. Since this collection system was launched on May 24, residents reported an increase in dirt, infestations of cockroaches and rats, and noise at night.

Thus, the council has chosen to "make the collection of organic waste more flexible", and has installed 15 intelligent containers for this type of waste, which I know add to the 48 mailboxes that have been placed since October, which complement the initial 22 and which have neighborhood communities of more than 20 homes. With these changes, the individual cube organic contribution has been removed.

The collection system for the rest of the fractions is maintained. Paper and cardboard, recyclables and 'subtraction' are done as before, door to door, on the corresponding day. Glass, for its part, will continue to have its container on the street. As for sanitary textiles, it has been collected in mailboxes since September, for those households that request access to deposit nappies, disposable sanitary material and feminine hygiene items.

Silenter trucks

To solve the noise problem, the city council has reported in a statement that, in recent months, "all measures to reduce it" have also been deployed.

It has done so by modifying the routes "to minimize vehicle manoeuvres", it has proceeded to renew the collection trucks and has introduced six new ones, five natural gas and one electric, the last of which will arrive this same week.

Furthermore, different sound measurements have been carried out in the area to "ensure that the sound level caused by the collection is below the thresholds established by the ordinance".

Information and bonuses

To reinforce the information about the changes in the collection, the information points for citizens have been expanded. From this Monday until January 29, an information point and distribution of key chains for mailboxes and containers will be opened in the Plaza de las Palmeres that will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition, the 'Porta a Porta' office of the Espacio Josep Bota, located in the Fabra y Coats premises, continues to operate and is open from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Since January 1, the discount of 30% of the household waste collection rate has also come into effect for all those neighbors in the door-to-door area who make more than 40 contributions of the organic fraction during the anus. Selective collection in the field of door-to-door in Sant Andreu de Palomar remains stable at around 80%.

European objective: 55% selective collection by 2025

Barcelona City Council insists that the city must do everything necessary to comply with the provisions of European Parliament Directive 2018/851 European Union and the European Council, such as the Metropolitan Program for the Prevention and Management of Municipal Resources and Waste 2017-2025 (PREMET25) and the Metropolitan Agreement for Zero Waste of February 2019, which set the goal of reaching 55% of selective collection in 2025, 60% in 2030 and 65% in 2035.

Currently, in Barcelona selective collection is stagnant at around 38%. Each inhabitant of the city generates a total of 493 kg of waste each year, of which 308 are collected as a non-selective fraction, that is, the 'subtracted' fraction.

Greenhouse gas emissions derived from the field of waste vary depending on how they are managed. The final treatment, landfill or energy recovery (incineration), which is the one applied to the 'remaining' fraction, is the one that generates the most CO₂ emissions, therefore selective collection and recycling are the option that is most compromised with the reduction of emissions.

Lower expenditure per inhabitant

In addition, the council points out that separating waste into different fractions "remarkably lowers the economic cost of management." When it is not separated, the process of collecting and recycling has a higher cost for each inhabitant.

The current cost (with 38% selective) of waste collection in the city stands at 191 euros per household per year. If selective collection were to be at 60%, the price would drop to 163 euros per household and year and, at 70%, to 150 euros per year and household.

It must be taken into account that the cost and collection of the 'remaining' fraction is 206 euros per ton, while the organic fraction has a cost of 124 euros per ton and the treatment of paper and glass is approximately 45 euros per ton, more than four times cheaper than the 'subtraction' treatment.