The Zero Beach project

The Zero Beach project aims to promote the implementation of effective zero waste strategies to reduce the waste generated by high volumes of tourists that visit the beaches and coastal areas near Barcelona. In the Mediterranean, 80% of marine litter comes from land sources and 80% of this is plastic. The beaches are one of the most crowded areas during the summer on the entire Catalan and Mediterranean coast, with local data showing a 40% increase in waste generation during the summer months in the Mediterranean. During the summer of 2019, in collaboration with public administrations, Rezero and Eco-union tested three pilot studies with the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona to reduce waste on beaches. These included the simulation of a deposit return system for drink containers, a smoking ban and an awareness-raising initiative among beach users on the good practices they can follow to prevent waste contaminating our seas and beaches. After the pilots finished, these strategies were legally evaluated to facilitate their implementation by the public administration in Barcelona. Through the work of the project, it has been shown that banning smoking on beaches can reduce the presence of cigarette butts by up to 80%. Furthermore, 900 containers per week were collected on average through the DRS system. This data is now being used to call for policies that create a new regulatory framework for municipalities to implement that result in waste free beaches.