• Thanks to their commitment to progress towards sustainable development and the efforts of their local hospitality industry, Calvià and Palma have won the Green Flag in the Balearic Islands, while Alcudia, the Consorci de Residus i Energia de Menorca and Sant Antoni de Portmany have managed to revalidate the precious award
• In this V Edition of the #MovimientoBanderasVerdes, the Balearic Islands have had the participation of 30 municipalities and more than 2,500 hospitality establishments, collecting more than 14,400 tons of glass containers during this summer
• #MovimientoBanderasVerdes is an initiative by Ecovidrio that recognizes the involvement of the local hospitality industry and the activism of coastal municipalities for sustainability during the summer

Ecovidrio, the only SCRAP, a specialist in the field that manages selective collection and responds to the sustainability of glass containers from source in Spain, has today recognised Calvià and Palma as the most responsible and committed coastal municipalities of the Balearic Islands to sustainability, the circular economy and glass recycling, awarding them the coveted Green Flag of the 5th edition of the #MovimientoBanderasVerdes.

In this way, Calvià and Palma have been amongst the winners of the Ecovidrio Summer campaign, which aims to highlight and recognise the commitment of local hospitality and city councils to recycling glass containers, protecting the environment and moving towards sustainable development.

The presentation of the Green Flags was attended by the general director of Circular Economy, Energy Transition and Climate Change, Diego Viu; and the deputy director of management for the Eastern area of ​​Ecovidrio, Roberto Fuentes, who were in charge of presenting the recognition to the representatives of the winning municipalities in this edition.

In total, in the 5th edition of the #MovimientoBanderasVerdes, Ecovidrio has had the participation of more than 2,500 hoteliers from 30 municipalities in the Balearic Islands, who have shown their commitment to sustainability and the environment and have contributed to a total collection of more than 14,400 tons of glass containers.

Specifically, the winning municipalities have stood out for their commitment to the selective collection of glass containers, for the high participation of the Horeca premises and for the work in disseminating and publicising the campaign.

In the case of Calvià, this Summer more than 1,490 tons of glass containers have been collected, with a participation percentage of the Horeca sector of 95.9%. In Palma, more than 3,150 tonnes were collected, with 99.1% participation from the local food service sector. In addition, both councils have recognised their efforts in raising awareness to create a more sustainable town committed to the circular economy.

Alcudia, the Consorci de Residus i Energia de Menorca and Sant Antoni de Portmany have also revalidated their prized Green Flag after achieving this award in previous editions and having demonstrated, once again, their commitment to recycling glass containers, protecting the environment and moving towards sustainable development.

On behalf of Calvià Town Hall, the green flag was collected by the president of Calvià 2000, Esperanza Catalá; from Palma Town Hall, the president of EMAYA, Llorenç G. Bauzá; From Alcudia, the coordinator of the Environment Area, Antoni Ferrari; from Menorca, Mateu Ainsa, island director of the Environment; and from Sant Antoni de Portmany, Pepita Torres, councillor for the Environment.

Roberto Fuentes, deputy director of management for the Eastern area of ​​Ecovidrio, explained that: “The #GreenFlagsMovement is one of the most outstanding initiatives of the year for Ecovidrio, the result of close cooperation between the public administration, the town halls and the professionals of the hospitality industry. Once again, the results have been outstanding, so I would like to express my gratitude and congratulate all the municipalities and hoteliers who have been part of this collective effort. Finally, I would like to extend my particular congratulations to Calvià and Palma, and to the rest of the municipalities that have revalidated it, for their more than deserved green flags, which accredit them amongst the coastal municipalities of the Balearic Islands most committed to sustainability during the summer months.”

Thus, the #GreenFlagsMovement has managed to respond to the significant increase in the generation of glass packaging waste in coastal areas caused by Summer tourism. In Summer, a third of the glass containers put into circulation are consumed and nearly 50% of the single-use glass packaging waste put on the market is generated by the hospitality sector, so their involvement is key to generating a real transition towards a more circular and decarbonised model.

Thanks to the responsibility of municipalities and hoteliers, 14,447 tonnes of glass containers have been collected in the Balearic Islands in this edition of the Green Flags Movement. The recycling of these containers has managed to:

• Prevent the emission of more than 8,300 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, the equivalent of removing more than 3,900 cars from circulation for a year.
• Saving 10,318 MWh of energy, equivalent to saving more than 1.37 million euros in economic savings.
• Avoiding the extraction of more than 17,300 tons of raw materials, equivalent to almost twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower.