Farmers complain that the new waste registration system involves more bureaucratic hurdles.

PalmFarmers and livestock breeders who produce waste must be registered in the Balearic Islands' Waste Production and Management Registry to be able to treat it. Registration grants an Environmental Identification Number (NIMA) and costs 51 euros. Without this number, the company awarded the plastic collection contract cannot collect the manure, nor can it be delivered to TIRME (the Balearic Islands' waste management company). This requirement, imposed by the national waste law passed in 2022, means "more bureaucracy for farmers, with a giant trap," laments Joan Gaià, coordinator of Unió de Pagesos (Farmers' Union). However, he believes the initiative is good if all the collected plastic is recycled, because "if all this fuss is just to end up burning the plastic, it's just asking for trouble." In this regard, he points out that plastic is still currently used as fuel, so "companies have no incentive to recycle it." Furthermore, he refers to the difficulty some farmers are having registering. "They'll have to hire people to do it for them," he says. The cost of registration must be borne by everyone, although producers who generate less than 1,000 tons of non-hazardous waste per year will not have to pay the fee established by the state waste regulations.

The Director General of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández, assured ARA Baleares that "no one will have to pay the fee" because "there isn't a single producer who generates more than 1,000 tons per year." The obligation to register has been in effect since the state regulations were approved in 2022. However, it wasn't implemented in the Balearic Islands that same year because the Department of Agriculture had a contract in place that expired in 2023. When the contract expired, a new one was drawn up; maintaining the previous arrangement was no longer sustainable.

Of the 7,976 tons ofplasticOf the plastics needed for agricultural activity, 1,333 become waste each year. The agricultural sector in Mallorca generates 40% of the plastic waste that manufacturers predict, thanks to reuse and more efficient management by farms, according to the study. Analysis of the use and management of plastics in the agricultural sector of Mallorca, prepared by the Association of Organic Agricultural Production of Mallorca (Apaema) with the support of the Mallorca Preservation Foundation.