According to the current legislation on Protecting the Environment, the government’s priorities with regard to municipal waste management are based on:

• Promoting the implementation of selective collection systems for urban waste to enable it to be recycled or reused in other ways.
• Developing public awareness and educational campaigns aimed at promoting active participation in the implementation of selective collection and encouraging the reduction in the use of containers.
• Establishing the mechanisms for implementing and promoting the necessary infrastructures for the correct management of containers and container waste.
• Promoting and coordinating the management of municipal urban waste collection and treatment services by means of consortiums and cooperation between municipalities.
• Supporting the technical development and marketing of consumer products and ways of providing services to enable reuse, minimise the waste generated or reduce its impact.
• Encouraging the implementation of infrastructures for the recovery and recycling of materials.
• Promoting the reuse of materials and containers, preferably within the same production cycles from which they originate.
• Establishing a public purchasing policy to prioritise the purchase of products that incorporate recyclable materials.

more information on the current legislation

• Waste Law.
• Decree regulating the management of used oil within the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.
• Environmental Responsibility Law.
• General Law on Protecting the Environment in the Basque Country (1998).
• Integrated National Waste Plan (PNIR) 2008-2015.
• Royal legislative decree 1/2001, of 20 July, approving the revised text of the Water Law
• Law on containers and container waste.