Menorca achieves the Ecovidrio Green Flag thanks to its commitment to glass recycling and sustainability last summer

Ecovidrio has today recognized the Waste and Energy Consortium and the 8 municipalities of the island of Menorca among the coastal areas of the Balearic Islands most committed to sustainability, the circular economy and glass recycling, awarding it with the precious Ecovidrio Green Flag .

The award was presented today at an event in Madrid that was attended by all the award-winning municipalities of the State and attended by the Deputy Director General of Tourism Development and Sustainability at the Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Muñoz Llabrés. The mayor of Ciutadella, Juana Mari Pons Torres, has been in charge of collecting the recognition on behalf of all the town councils and the Menorca Waste and Energy Consortium.

Menorca has thus become one of the areas of the Balearic Islands, along with Alcúdia, which has emerged as the winner in the Balearic Islands in this IV Edition of the #GreenFlagsMovement, an Ecovidrio campaign that rewards the efforts of the local hospitality industry and the activism of coastal municipalities for sustainability during the summer. Menorca and Alcúdia now join Sant Antoni de Portmany, which was awarded in the previous edition and which this summer has revalidated this recognition.

Specifically, the campaign valued the increase in the volume of selective collection of glass containers during the summer compared to the previous year, the participation of the hospitality sector and the involvement of the councils in the dissemination of the campaign among the sector and citizens.

In the case of Menorca, it has been awarded for the high involvement of hoteliers and for having increased the selective collection of glass containers by more than 5% during the summer season, reaching 1,472 tons of glass containers. In addition, the efforts of the Consortium and the municipalities in raising awareness in favor of sustainability and the circular economy have been recognized.

This past summer, a total of 327 restaurants, bars and cafes in the eight municipalities of Menorca have participated in the initiative in collaboration with the Menorca Waste and Energy Consortium, town councils and Ecovidrio.

In total, in this IV Edition of Green Flags, the Balearic Islands have had the participation of 28 municipalities and 2,933 hospitality establishments, which have demonstrated a great commitment to the circular economy. Thus, thanks to their efforts and collaboration with the #GreenBanderasMovement, during the months of June, July and August, a total of 15,068 tons of glass containers have been collected.

At the state level, the campaign has had the participation of 131 municipalities and 13,088 hotel establishments in Andalusia, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and the Region of Murcia. Thanks to the commitment, during the months of June, July and August of this summer, 54,144 tons of glass containers have been collected.

In summer, a third of the glass containers put into circulation are consumed and close to 50% of the waste from disposable glass containers put on the market is generated by the hotel sector, so their involvement is key. to generate a real transition towards a more circular and decarbonized model. In summer 2023, thanks to the 15,068 tons of glass containers collected in the 28 participating municipalities in the Balearic Islands, the following has been achieved:

Avoid the emission of 8,739 tons of CO2, equivalent to removing 4,081 cars from circulation for one year.
Prevent the extraction of 18,081 tons of raw materials, equivalent to almost twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
Save about 10,761 MWh of energy, equivalent to a saving of more than two million euros in economic savings.
The Balearic hospitality industry significantly improves its sustainability index

For the second consecutive year, within the framework of the #GreenFlagsMovement, Ecovidrio has carried out a new edition of the Barometer on the hospitality sustainability of our coasts. In this year’s edition, which saw the participation of 12,000 hospitality establishments, the Balearic Islands have increased their hospitality sustainability index by 9.3 percentage points, reaching a score of 7.6 out of 10.

In this way, the Balearic Islands are positioned as the second coastal region with the highest hospitality sustainability index, only below Catalonia (8.7) and tied with the Valencian Community (7.6). Among the areas analyzed, the Balearic Islands have especially highlighted the application of measures for waste management (87.4%), energy consumption management (85.6%) and efficient water consumption (83.2% ) %). On the contrary, the indicator related to responsible consumption stood at 45.6% in the region and registered a decrease of 8.3 percentage points.