THIS week is 'Green Week' in Marbella, and a chance to earn free gifts for recycling old electronics and appliances that no longer work or which have been upgraded with newer versions.
#GreenWeek21: In the photo, from Marbella town hall, are Rafael Serrano, PR manager for the Ecolec Foundation, and the local council's director-general for environment and beaches, María Victora Martín-Lomeña
Information stands with environmental and recycling advisors to answer questions have been set up throughout the Costa del Sol town, with a #GreenWeek21 fair set to take place this coming Tuesday (September 28) on the terraces in the Virgen del Carmen marina.
Drop-off points for old devices are in place, and freebies are handed out to those who bring theirs along to dispose of.
The Ecolec Foundation, running the event, will then examine all the 'E-waste', separating what can still be made to work from what cannot and, in the case of the latter, classifying the materials for reuse and recycling.
Metals and plastics can be melted down and used for other purposes, although technical and mechanical features may still be able to function with or without repairs, and intact parts, such as mobile phone screens, can be used again.
The nationwide 'Extended Producer Collective Responsibility System' – in Spanish, Sistema Colectivo de Responsabilidad Ampliada del Productor, known by its acronym of SCRAP – aims to prevent massive amounts of 'E-waste' caused by the short shelf-life of small consumer devices which end up in landfill every time they need to be replaced.
And the Ecolec Foundation is so far the most successful SCRAP scheme organiser in Spain, having saved over 100,000 tonnes of electronic waste per annum for the past four consecutive years.
Even when broken gadgets or accessories are stored in a box under the bed rather than winding up in landfill, this is still less environmentally-friendly than recycling them – by enabling the parts and materials to be used again, owners can help reduce the global need for mining for new metals and drilling for oil for plastic to keep up with consumer demand.
These natural resources are finite, and constant plundering of them causes everything from land movement to destruction of crop-producing territory and wildlife habitats, pollution, and deforestation – the latter being especially serious in light of the climate change crisis, since fewer trees means less water and oxygen, and fewer natural carbon dioxide 'drinkers' to reduce the amount of these greenhouse gases which trap heat within the earth's atmosphere.
Given the far-reaching benefits of merely depositing old phones, chargers and similar items in a dedicated recycling bank, anyone in Marbella this week already has sufficient incentive to visit the #GreenWeek21 stands – but if they do not, free gifts for items dropped off may provide this.
The Ecolec Foundation – which holds the ISO 9001 quality kitemark and ISO 14001 environmental certification – is a non-profit aiming to merely cover the costs of collecting, treating and managing 'E-waste' and giving it a new life.
According to its PR manager Rafael Serrano, a town the size of Marbella would typically generate around two tonnes of electronic waste every year.
