Spain Adopts Waste Management Law That Focuses on Prevention, Reuse, Recycling

摘要

The Spanish government July 30 put into force a law on waste management and soil contamination that focuses on prevention and mitigation of environmental harm through more efficient use of resources, including phasing out single-use, non-biodegradable plastic shopping bags by 2018. Law 22/2011, which Parliament passed July 26, went into force the day after its publication July 29 in the Bo-letin Oficial del Estado, Spain's national register. It is Spain's first major waste law since 1998. "This is a law that banks on prevention, which should be understood as a body of measures adopted before a product becomes waste," Environment Minister Rosa Aguilar said during the approval process.