OVFC meeting with the Councillor for recycling & Technical Director for Urban Services and Environment

• OVFC present: Margaret Hales, Marianne Pätzold, Marta Díaz, Paul Davies
• City Council present: Javier Cabrera Colomer (Councilor for New Technologies, Digital Transformation, Transparency, Sports, Agriculture, and Waste) Ignasi Cervera (Technical Director for Urban Services and the Environment) Sonia Translator

Main topic: Recycling plan in Benitachell, with a focus on Cumbre.

• The Town Hall presented an overview of the current situation, with all the existing containers in Cumbre. Currently, the vast majority of locations only have containers for waste, and there are no recycling containers at all locations.

• The Town Hall presented an overview of the new plan, with 9 recycling 'platform areas'. Four of these are lands donated by VAPF by agreement (North Entrance, Lirios, Kalmias, and Padel area), which are currently in the planning  phase. The other five are Pueblo de la Luz, Blue Infinity, Montecala, Olivos (pending consideration), and Parking de la Cala Moraig (pending consideration). Some of these points belong to Communities/Towns.

• This is a project that will be implemented in phases: installing installing fencing; establishing access and management.

• It is expected that management may be modified to allow residents and owners to access another platforms, not necessarily the one initially assigned to them, especially if it is on their way up or down the Cumbre.

• The Town Hall is aware that issues and situations will arise and evolve, so decisions will be made accordingly, that is, as they arise ("we are not going to base them on assumptions").

• It is confirmed that access to the platforms will be via a digital code (the 2024 proposal mentioned the use of a card). This code will be sent from the Town Hall to the owners. OVFC requests proactive communication action from the Town Hall to prevent residents and owners from being left without information. This action will last for a certain period of time, after which the responsibility for requesting the code will fall on the citizen.

• Cumbre will be organized by zones, and each will be assigned a recycling point or platform. Based on the presentation of the plan, it is clear that some areas are larger than others.

• There will be two recycling points at the North entrance, with approximately 25 containers.

• OVFC raises the question of whether there is a maximum legal distance from a home to recycling areas. It is agreed that the OVFC will send the information on the Altea case and the Ombudsman's resolution to the Waste Officer. The recommended distance (300-500 m) will be studied by the City Council.

• Benitachell currently only complies with 25% of the European regulations, which require each municipality and city to achieve 50% recycling by 2025. The door-to-door campaign in the town is ongoing without incident. Of the 900 homes in the town centre, 700 residents have requested bins. The remaining 200 homes will have to contact the Town Hall directly.

• Recycling plan schedule: starting in May 2025 and extending over time (no details have been given regarding months or years). By May at the latest, all existing containers and bins will begin to be removed from their current locations and placed in the planned new areas. It is expected that all containers will be in their new locations by summer, and possibly the four large platforms (North Entrance, Kalmias, Lirios, and Padel) will be fenced.

• OVFC points out that it is very important to close (with the option of doing so with a wall) the old sites so that people do not continue to deposit their trash at these sites.

• OVFC offers assistance to begin communicating this plan. The Town Hall prefers to draft a communication and, when ready, send it to OVFC. Timing: late February, early March 2025.

• OVFC (Paul) specifically requests that the proposal to hold a meeting with Miguel Angel with the Presidents and Administrators of Cumbre Estates (there are four in total) be revived.

• It is important to keep in mind for the Recycling Plan that approximately 60% of Cumbre property owners belong to a community, and therefore the remaining 40% are not accessible and likely will not receive the information.

• The means of communication chosen by the Town Hall to inform about what will happen in the coming weeks and months is through a poster posted on the current containers. OVFC requests that social media, the WhatsApp channel, and all the channels the Town Hall has open to the public be used.

• OVFC informs that our means of communication with Cumbre property owners is evolving, moving from a newsletter to a blog.

• OVFC informs the Town Hall that the main risk to the success of this Plan is tourism. It is essential to provide adequate information to reach all audiences, especially during the summer. Tourist apartment owners will be responsible for explaining this initiative to tourists. They will also indicate the recycling point/platform they should visit.

• A question arises regarding the expensive apartments being built in Montecala. They will have the recycling point right in front of them when they open their windows. "They are currently there; they know what they buy!"

• OVFC proposes that the Mobile Ecopark, which currently stops every Monday in the town (parking lot on C/ dels Furs), also have a regular stop in Cumbre.

• OVFC requests information about the ecological islands. So far, Consorci Mare has only granted and installed six ecological islands in small towns in the 52 municipalities of Marina Alta and Marina Baja. Benitachell has requested one, but so far it has not been granted.

• The Mercadona recycling point is mentioned and it is confirmed that it will remain open in the initial phases of project implementation.