Benidorm Reclaims Ecovidrio’s Green Flag With Record Summer Recycling

Benidorm has erstwhile again been crowned nan Valencian Community’s apical recycler, earning Ecovidrio’s coveted Bandera Verde Award aft collecting much than 1.2 cardinal kilos of solid this summertime – a five-year winning streak that proves sustainability and tourism tin spell manus successful hand.

A record-breaking summertime for solid recycling

Benidorm has clinched nan Bandera Verde 2025, Ecovidrio’s Green Flag, aft recycling 1,248,620 kilograms of solid betwixt June and August – a 9.8 per cent summation compared to nan erstwhile year. The metropolis besides achieved a grounds 3,353 points successful nan biology organisation’s scoring system, outpacing each different municipality successful nan Valencian Community.

The award, which recognises excellence successful recycling and coastal sustainability, forms portion of Ecovidrio’s nationwide “Movimiento Banderas Verdes” – a summertime inaugural involving much than 180 coastal towns and 15,000 hospitality venues crossed Spain.

Benidorm’s councillor for nan Environment, Mónica Gómez, said nan nickname “reflects nan corporate effort of our hospitality assemblage and residents, who proceed to make recycling portion of nan city’s DNA.”

Tourism meets sustainability

The occurrence is particularly striking fixed Benidorm’s position arsenic 1 of Spain’s busiest tourer destinations. During nan summertime peak, solid depletion tin emergence by much than 40 per cent, mostly driven by nan hospitality manufacture – which accounts for astir half of each solid packaging discarded generated nationwide.

Over 300 section hotels, bars and restaurants took portion successful this year’s campaign, helping nan metropolis debar an estimated 724 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Participating venues were provided pinch greenish containers, postulation support and visibility wrong nan campaign, which has go a hallmark of biology activity among Spain’s coastal resorts.

How nan Green Flag is won

Ecovidrio’s Bandera Verde is awarded based connected 3 main criteria: nan full measurement of solid recycled, information of nan hospitality sector, and section promotion of nan initiative. Each municipality earns points successful these categories, pinch bonuses for maturation complete erstwhile years and connection efforts that prosecute residents and visitors.

This year, only 2 Valencian municipalities earned nan Green Flag distinction, and Benidorm came retired connected apical erstwhile again – its 5th consecutive triumph since 2021.

Across Spain, winners besides included Mijas (Andalucia) and Mazarron (Murcia), some recognised for innovative section engagement and grounds recycling tonnage.

A exemplary for coastal cities

Spain’s nationalist solid recycling complaint reached complete 71 per cent successful 2024, surpassing nan European Union’s 2025 target of 70 per cent, and Ecovidrio intends to transcend 80 per cent by 2030. Benidorm’s accomplishment highlights really municipality tourism centres tin equilibrium precocious visitant numbers pinch beardown biology capacity — provided nan correct systems, incentives, and organization committedness are successful place.

Ecovidrio spokespersons person besides credited nan emergence of “smart” recycling strategies – including AI-based postulation mapping, door-to-door HORECA (Hotels, Restaurants, and Cafés) pickups, and nationalist consciousness drives – arsenic cardinal to sustaining maturation crossed Spain’s coast.

Benidorm’s greenish future

For Benidorm, nan Green Flag is some a badge of honour and a motivator for what’s next. “We’ve shown that moreover successful a metropolis that ne'er sleeps, sustainability doesn’t person to stop,” said Gómez. “Our extremity now is to support innovating, educating, and mounting nan modular for others to follow.”

As portion of its reward, Benidorm will besides person a municipal quality restoration inaugural sponsored by Ecovidrio – a symbolic closing of nan loop betwixt municipality advancement and biology care.

With different grounds twelvemonth down it, Benidorm’s greenish momentum shows nary motion of slowing – and its solid bins show nan communicative of a metropolis that genuinely knows really to observe summertime sustainably, while enjoying a portion aliases two.