Target Groups
Community – Public Authorities – Entities
Pillars
Collection – Valorisation
Prevention – Zero Waste
Type of Litter
Beach Litter – Microplastics
Goals Achieved Towards a Plastic-Free Future
City engagement for plastic entrepreneurship
Partners involved: AITIIP (Zaragoza City Hall and Aragonian Government with Aragon Circular)
Located in the North-eastern part of the country, the city is a logistic hub connecting Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Toulouse, serving one of the 40 most populated and industrialised areas on the planet. Zaragoza hosted the International Exposition with the theme “Water and Sustainable Development” in 2008. Conference tourism is growing, which means a growing number of professional visitors.
Zaragoza belongs to “Serranía Celtibérica”, a demographic desert concentrating most of the population and their agricultural and industrial activities to the banks of the Ebro River. The new activities related to conference tourism add pressure to the river pollution. The Ebro River discharges 2.2 billion microplastic particles into the Mediterranean Sea every year. 70% comes from the synthetic fibres of municipal sewers, 30% from uncontrolled agricultural and tourist activities is increasing alarmingly.
The Aragón Strategy for Climate Change (EACC2030) 16 is the consequence of the firm adhesion of the Aragón to the Paris Agreement, to the European and national political priorities derived from it and from the UN Sustainable Development Goals. One of the main points of this strategy is to reduce the pollution and the waste coming from uncontrolled sources. As response to this strategy, AITIIP coordinates the Green Deal SISTERS project. The Zaragoza REMEDIES demo will validate these systemic solutions.
Zaragoza aims to become a flagship of Zero Pollution to Mediterranean Sea by 2030. The sustainable packaging solutions will by then have reached 80% of all shops and 70% of all microplastics will be trapped before they enter the water bodies.
Inputs
Biodegradable fishing gear
Use of zero waste solutions and connection to supply chains
Zero waste cups and bottles
Filtration system connected to washing machines to trap microplastic fibres
zero waste cosmetics
Collaboration with local entities and citizens to demonstrate respectful activities to reduce leakage to the Mediterranean Sea
Outputs
- Prevention of >5 tonnes of plastic litter
- Collaborate with >5 shops and facilities
- 1000 people to answer the end user survey on sustainable consumption dynamics
Location
Aragón Region North-East of Spain
Basic data
973,8 km2 area, 675.000 inhabitants, 1.5M tourists and 2M overnight visitors per year
