Navarra to ban plastic coffee capsules, crockery and cutlery

The land-locked northern region, of which the capital is Pamplona, will also outlaw disposable plastic goods such as cups, plates and cutlery, and drinking straws.

Plastic bags will no longer be free of charge in any retail establishment from July this year in any part of Spain, but Navarra seeks to ban them altogether within 18 months.

Also, residents in the region will be obliged by law to separate their rubbish, with organic waste, plastic and paper in different bins, from the beginning of the year 2022.

By the year 2020, Navarra aims for 50% of household and commercial waste to be used for compost or recycling, reaching 70% by the year 2027.

Returning to the popular scheme in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s, customers will get money back when they hand in plastic and glass drinks bottles to retailers – although they will have been obliged to pay a small deposit on them first.

This way, plastic containers will be cleaned and reused again and again, largely eliminating the need to manufacture new ones.

A new tax of €5 for this year, rising to €10 next year and €20 from 2020 will apply for every tonne of rubbish destined for landfill sites or incinerators, creating a form of reverse incentive for homes and businesses to recycle.

These two regions – Navarra and the Basque Country - are pioneers in banning plastic items designed for one single use in a bid to cut pollution, since plastic takes decades, if not centuries to biodegrade.

Sea creatures are already dying from eating plastic – even large ones, such as dolphins and whales – and it is estimated that by the year 2050, just 32 years away, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish.

In addition to its ground-breaking crackdown on plastic, Navarra has joined the southern region of Andalucía in making it compulsory for all bars and restaurants to supply free tap water to customers.

The aim of this is partly for human health, and partly to cut down on plastic waste when empty mineral water bottles are binned.

Even though tap water in the vast majority of Spain has been perfectly safe to drink for a decade or two – varying by area – most Spaniards still only drink bottled water as they have grown up with being unable to consume water from taps.