Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella district started a service of nine mobile recycling points on Monday 2 November in the Gòtic and in Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera. These neighbourhoods rely partly on manual waste collection, and the points are meant to improve sorting and reduce rubbish bags left in the street during the day.
How the mobile points work
The points are staffed by information workers and open Monday to Saturday, except public holidays, in the morning and afternoon. They accept paper and cardboard, glass and packaging, and staff advise people on how to separate the different waste fractions. The service is for residents and for small shops whose waste is similar to household waste. Businesses that produce large amounts of waste must use the commercial collection services.
As an exception, people who find it hard to use the usual evening slot, between 20:00 and 22:00, because of age, reduced mobility or other circumstances can also bring organic and general waste to the points. Collection of these two fractions stays mainly in the evening slot to avoid overloading the mobile points.
One weekly day for bulky items
Since October, each neighbourhood of Ciutat Vella has a single weekly day for collecting furniture and bulky items. The district says this simplifies the service, reduces confusion and makes control and inspection easier.
| Neighbourhood | Collection day |
|---|---|
| La Barceloneta | Monday |
| El Gòtic | Wednesday |
| El Raval | Thursday |
| Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera | Friday |
Items must be left in front of the home, on the pavement next to the roadway, between 20:00 and 22:00, and not leaning against façades, where they can obstruct people with visual impairments. Construction and renovation waste is not accepted, and appliances such as fridges and washing machines must go to a green point.
Part of a wider cleaning plan
The new services belong to the second phase of the district’s cleaning and waste collection plan, which includes 42 projects and 130 specific actions across its four neighbourhoods. The plan was launched last spring within the Pla Endreça. Other measures include collecting bags four times a day at the worst spots and renewing 100% of the district’s litter bins. During the pilot period, abandoned bags fell by between 30% and 42%, especially in the Casc Antic and the Raval. In the current quarter the district is increasing the use of new detergent and disinfectant products, and it plans to repeat its campaign against badly left rubbish bags.