The Canary Islands will say goodbye to single-use plastics in January 2021.
June 2021 It is the date set by Europe for the countries of the European Union to say goodbye to the single plastic use that are irreversibly polluting our oceans. But the Canary Islands will be ahead of the date banning them from January 1, 2021.
The truth is that it is not by chance, because they have been working on sustainability for a long time. For example, the island of El Hierro is on its way to becoming one of the few islands in the world to be 100% sustainable thanks to a project wind power , in addition to several plans to promote recycling and responsible tourism.
But it is not the only island. Fuerteventura It already carries out initiatives of anonymous groups to collect plastics in natural spaces. We told you a few months ago about Limpiaventura, **a non-profit project that brings people together every weekend to clean the beaches of Fuerteventura. **
Another of the large projects, now converted into an NGO, began in 2018. Plastic Free Canary Islands began its journey with Luis Vailén and Ignacio Fernández, two lovers of the sea, who want to raise awareness in the Canary Islands and the world with an initiative that goes beyond plastic collection on the beaches.
"The aliseos and the Canarian currents , the phenomena that define our islands as a paradise for marine and terrestrial life, are those that expose us to receiving an enormous amount of plastics from other areas of the planet. For this reason, not only are we not exempt from suffering the consequences of the abuse of plastic in our day-to-day lives, but we are especially exposed," they point out from their website.
**STUDIES THAT ENCOURAGED TO TAKE THE STEP ** Last summer a study launched by the project The sand of our beaches of Education of the Loro Parque Fundación put data on microplastics in the Canary Islands on the table. The data pointed to 4,000 plastic objects documented on 28 beaches , this being the residue most frequently found, in 60% of cases.
On the other hand, the ** Universidad de la Laguna ** also presented a study on microplastics on the beaches of Tenerife. Between October and December 2018, six beaches were analyzed, two from the north and four from the south. The results revealed an excessively high amount of microplastics, especially in Big beach in El Poris (Arico) where 3,000 fragments per m2 were found.
"We want to give an example of sustainability ", said Miguel Ángel Pérez, deputy minister for the Fight Against Climate Change, at the press conference in the newspaper El Día. La Opinion de Tenerife.
The Strategy for Plastic in the Canary Islands It is part of the Circular Economy Law that will be launched next year and, together with the Climate Change Law and the Biodiversity and Natural Heritage Law, they want to protect the future of the Canary Islands.
So As of January 1, the sale of plastic utensils will be prohibited such as plates, forks, glasses, straws, Styrofoam containers, bags or food wrappers.
"This law proposes actions to promote** changes in the design of products made of this material**, the reduction of consumption, as well as the responsible use of waste, in addition to promoting separate collection and reuse , the improvement in recycling and the promotion of energy recovery in order to progressively minimize the dumping of plastic waste”, underlined the Ecological Transition Minister of the regional Executive, José Antonio Valbuena.
The Canarian government is committed to a change in the plastics industry where innovation and sustainability prevail, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.