Tourists off the hook in “rubbish war”

by Staff Reporter
RESIDENTS produce more rubbish than visitors according to the results of a new survey on the Playa de Palma, which has been criticised for the state of the beach this month. It seems that each tourist staying at hotels in the Playa de Palma produces 0.921 kilograms per day, compared to 1.5 kilos generated by each permanent resident of the Balearics. These were the findings of a study undertaken by the Institute of Ecological Studies (INESE) and reported yesterday by Mateo Picornell, the institute's president. The project, financed by the Council of Majorca at a cost of some 24'000 euros, focussed on analysing rubbish production and management at hotels in the popular Palma resort. It also drew on data related to how visitors perceive this environmental problem. The study's dirctor, Angel Pomar, explained at a Press conference that the investigation has followed three different lines: the production and management of rubbish generated by the hotels, the perception held on this issue by the hoteliers and separately, by the tourists themselves. According to Pomar the results indicate that the hotels could make a “big contribution” by dividing their rubbish into different categories for selective collection, particularly “organic waste emanating principally from the kitchens, and which represents 65 percent of the total”. The data brought to light by the investigation similarly suggest that of the total of rubbish generated by each establishment, some 80 per cent could be collected in categories (glass, paper, plastic, organic waste, etcetera), whilst this would “prove difficult to achieve” with the remaining 20 percent. The study talks also of the difficulties that can arise at the time of making a collection of categorised waste material. Examples include the shortage of space for rubbish skips at the hotel premises, or lack of incentive and training of the staff who are responsible for putting out the rubbish.