Totana City Council has agreed to adhere to the "Declaration of Seville: The commitment of cities for the Circular Economy", assuming the pronouncements and commitments regarding waste management;
so that the municipal plenary ratified to sign this initiative unanimously.
The European Commission and the European Parliament have approved a package of initiatives to build a Circular Economy in Europe, in order to develop a new economic model paradigm that closes the circle of design, production, consumption and waste management, thus creating an ecological, circular and competitive Europe.
Although environmental problems such as the fight against climate change, its effect on biodiversity and the increasing scarcity of resources require global solutions that are mainly under the responsibility of national governments, they must also be a major concern for European cities and towns.
Sustainable urban development from an integrated approach and its interrelations with the rural world, are a fundamental element for the development of innovation and the implementation of solutions for a correct transition towards a low carbon economy and a preservation of our natural resources.
According to the United Nations, 70% of the planet's population will live in cities by 2050.
A circular economy, which transforms our waste into resources, offers a solution to the environmental crisis that we will suffer with the economic model of linear development.
We can not build our future on the model of "take, make and throw".
The circular economy favors that the value of products and materials is maintained for a longer time;
waste and the use of resources is minimized, and resources are retained within the economy when a product has reached the end of its useful life, in order to reuse them repeatedly and continue to create value.
In Totana we are committed to the circular economy for years and its implementation was carried out with the approval of Local Agenda 21 and the coordinated actions undertaken since then.
In September 2015, the city of Paris called on "European cities in favor of a Circular Economy", which have been signed by cities such as Amsterdam, Brussels;
Copenhagen, Lisbon, London, Milan and Rome, whose proposals were largely surpassed by the commitments of the European Union at the Climate Summit COP21.
Last year, in the city of Seville, the cities gathered in this Conference on "Circular Economy: the Commitment of Cities" committed themselves with their signature to promote a model of sustainable and inclusive urban development, increasing the demand for socio-economic generating activities of environmental goods and services, which will translate into green employment and social employment of higher quality and added value.
It was also advocated to highlight the important role that local governments have in the actions to promote and develop a circular economy because it is the closest administration and the one that can best prevent environmental impacts, in collaboration with its neighbors.
Likewise, we opted to increase our efforts to reduce the environmental, climatic and health impacts of people from their current development models, as well as develop local strategies in favor of the circular economy that favor zero waste, recycling (especially of the bioresiduos), the reduction of the alimentary wastes, the promotion of the ecodiseņo, of the prevention of waste, of the reuse and the recycling and the promotion of the public purchase of green products, between other initiatives.
