On January 6, a user on the social media platform Threads posted a video, claiming that it is necessary to pay 5 euros to open a container for organic waste in Spain.
The information circulating that there is a fee to open organic waste containers in Spain is not true. In fact, municipal cards are used to open the bins shown in the video, and their opening is free of charge.
Over the past few years, several municipalities in Spain have installed a number of waste bins that require special cards to open. These containers are intended only for organic waste and aim to promote recycling. This process followed regulations introduced by the European Union in 2018, which provide for the proper distribution of organic waste. Special cards are used to open these bins, which are issued free of charge by local municipalities to residents. For example, this program is also active in the city of Zaragoza, where the city hall sends anonymous cards to residents by mail to open the containers. The containers can also be opened via mobile phone, which requires downloading a special application.
It is noteworthy that in the video circulating on social media, the Spanish-speaking man never says that it is necessary to pay to open the container. He only mentions that a card is required to open it and is angry, believing it to be an excessive control. Additionally, upon closer inspection of the waste bin shown in the video, it is easy to discern that it belongs to the city of Vigo, one of the first cities to install such containers. In 2020, Mayor Abel Caballero also recorded a video explaining how to open these containers. According to him, it requires having a Passvigo card, which the municipality provides for free and is available to every household in the city. To open the bin, the card needs to be placed on a reader, and the electric lock opens within a few seconds.
To clarify the issue, Myth Detector contacted the company Passvigo, who confirmed in writing that the Passvigo card is provided free of charge by the city hall to all registered residents of the city, and it is used to open the waste bins at no cost. The letter also stated that the same card is also used for public transportation and is only topped up with money to pay the fare.
The installation of similar types of waste bins faced problems in the Pamplona region. Like in Vigo, opening the containers in Pamplona was also free of charge using cards issued by the municipality. However, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) believed that the use of these cards allowed for surveillance of citizens’ behavior, which posed a threat to family privacy principles. The AEPD issued a resolution, and as a result, the president of the Pamplona Region Association announced that no further information would be collected regarding the use of cards to open the waste bins.
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