“Spain is far from being circular”. This resounding statement is the main conclusion of the third Cotec Foundation report on ‘Situation and evolution of the circular economy in Spain’.

The data shown in this work warns of the stagnation in the last five years of the transition to a circular economy, despite the implementation of different policies and strategies at different administrative levels and companies, as well as the increased awareness of the concept of circular economy among citizens.

In this sense, it points out that in 2019 only 10% of the total material requirements in Spain were covered by recovered material. This figure is close to the EU-27 average for the circular use of materials (11.8%), although much lower than in other territories such as the Netherlands (30%) or France (20%). Finland is one of the countries with the lowest circular use of materials (6.3%).

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The recycling rate in Spain is 35%, far from the 50% target set by the European Commission for 2020. This figure places the country below the EU-27 average (48%) and far from the new target for 2025, in which EU countries would have to recycle 55% of the municipal waste generated.

With regard to waste treatment, in Spain the deposit of waste in landfill in 2019 was 54%, a figure far from the target set by the EU of not exceeding 10% by 2035. In the EU as a whole, this indicator fell by 50% between 2000 and 2019, but the percentage of incineration increased from 16% to 27%.

“Urgent transformation”

This third report on the circular economy includes a detailed study of the competences and capacities available at national level to drive the circular transition, as well as the barriers and enablers for such a transition.

The current situation of the circular economy in Spain requires an urgent transformation, as the Cotec report indicates, in favour of measures focused especially on reparability and durability, but also oriented towards product recycling, food waste prevention, advances in eco-design, eco-innovation and greater public awareness.

The report highlights progress in the development of circular economy plans, programmes and regulations at all public administrative levels, but warns that it is still premature to determine their impact because they are at an early stage with partial progress.

“In any case, accelerating the transition from linear to circular economy models cannot be achieved in Spain by simply promoting some facilitating elements or implementing partial regulations in some sectors or areas. It is essential to combine incremental structural changes with radical changes, going beyond the policy of shared and watertight silos, and opting for a transformation that affects all socio-technical and ecological systems in an integrated manner. But at the same time, this transformation must go hand in hand with the necessary actions to develop a climate-resilient future,” the paper concludes.

Access to the press release and the full Cotec Foundation report, here.