The amount of household junk collected in Palma rose by 50% in December and January compared with same months in 2015 and 2016. In January alone, over 390 tonnes of junk were collected from the city's streets; in 2016 the figure was 260 tonnes.
Councillor Neus Truyol, president of the Emaya municipal services agency, says that the agency isn't too sure why there has been such a marked increase, which has taken it a bit by surprise. There wasn't such a rise in months when this might have been expected, such as immediately before the summer holiday. The current increase shows little relation to previous months.
When Emaya changed the system of collection the level of increase was initially around 20% per month. It has shown an increase month by month, which can be explained by people knowing more about the system. Even so, a 50% increase is difficult to explain. It may, suggests Truyol, be due to improved economic circumstances, though other indicators, e.g. for different types of waste, show very much more modest rises.
A further reason could be that there are more people seeking to rent out properties for holiday rentals, she observes. But whatever the reason, the agency is well placed to take care of increased demand. The collection system has improved, and the complaints about junk having been dumped in the streets when it shouldn't be have gone down.