Door-to-door Collection Reduces Waste in Hernani, Spain: On the
Road to Zero Waste Blog, By | Other Worlds Facing a nearly full
landfill in 2002, Spain’s Gipuzkoa Province proposed building
two new incinerators. Citizen opposition was immediate and
widespread. In response, some municipalities in the Province
decided not only to reject the incinerator plan, but to
implement an alternative to burying and burning. Usurbil was the
first. This town of 6,000 people established a door to-door
collection system of source-separated waste streams, including
organic materials. In just six weeks, the amount of collected
waste destined for landfills dropped by 80 percent. The resource
recovery rate registered in the first year was 82 percent. In
2008, before door-to-door collection started, Usurbil was taking
175 tons per month to the landfill. One year later, the amount
had dropped to 25 tons. In May 2010, after two months of
dialogue with the citizens to explain and solicit input on the
new system, Hernani followed Usur