Only 5.6 percent of the waste deposited in municipal containers is recycled in Lanzarote. During 2007, 8,475 tons were recycled, mainly glass (2,493) and paper and cardboard (4,577), according to a study carried out by the Data Center of the Cabildo. Said like that, it may seem that these are very high quantities, but the truth is that the bulk of the waste that citizens generated on the island, 100,000 tons (that is, 94.4 percent of the total), were buried in the landfill. Thus, buried under the ground, this garbage will never be given another use, it will only encourage the contamination of Lanzarote, a biosphere reserve.
In addition to being the last in the recycling queue in the Canary Islands, whose average ranges between 6 and 7 percent, the Autonomous Community is the least recycled in all of Spain. A resident of San Sebastián deposits almost 79 kilos, while one from Lanzarote does not reach 5 kilos. "When there was talk of recycling in Lanzarote, citizens began to follow it, but the reality is that when they arrive at Zonzamas they put everything together and, with the exception of glass, nothing is recycled," says Miguel Ángel Fernández, from the El Guincho environmental association.
FIRE AND STOPPAGE OF THE BIOMETHANIZATION PLANT
Sad reality and lack of hope. Last February, the landfill burned in a fire that was caused by the ambient temperature and the methane gas that emanates from the burial of waste. On the other hand, the Zonzamas biomethanization plant, which serves to convert organic matter into clean energy, has not yet been put into operation. And that despite the fact that the president of the Cabildo, Manuela Armas, assured in a visit to the complex last October that it would be operational in August.
The most serious thing is that, as Miguel Ángel points out, "Zonzamas is almost at its limit, and garbage is beginning to be seen on the side of the road", so he considers that it is an issue that has to be taken up "as a matter of urgency".
THE ULTIMATUM OF TIME AND SPACE
The rapid population growth of the Island has also contributed to the situation overflowing. If in 1993, the year in which UNESCO granted Lanzarote the distinctive of Biosphere Reserve, the population by right was 72,755, in 2008 it exceeds 130,0000 inhabitants. To this we must add the extra garbage generated by tourism, especially in summer.
When there is no space in Zonzamas to house more waste, there will only be two possibilities: either the complex is closed and started from scratch in another place in the Biosphere Reserve, or the waste is incinerated. Both solutions have a negative impact on the environment.
Time and space have already launched their ultimatum and there is no option but to recycle to save the delicate situation of the landfill and avoid environmental deterioration in Lanzarote.
ACN Press