Portal de La Marina in Ondara rewards for recycling in the new recycling machines

The Portal de la Marina Shopping Centre, owned by Lar España Real Estate Socimi and managed by Grupo Lar through Gentalia, has installed two RECICLOS machines, the Return and Reward System (SDR) from Ecoembes, which reward the commitment to the recycling of cans and plastic drinks bottles.With the implementation of this SDR, the shopping center takes a further step in its commitment to the circular economy and with a positive impact on the environment through recycling.

With RECICLOS, the 4 million customers who visit the shopping centre each year will be able to continue recycling the plastic beverage cans and bottles they consume outside their homes, facilitating the circulation of this waste, that is to say, to convert them back into new packaging or products after recycling. By using these machines, users will receive points with which they can help improve their environment through sustainable or social incentives. For example, they will be able to give the RECICLOS points they get when recycling to food donation projects to vulnerable or needing families. In addition, RECICLOS aims to contribute to promoting responsible and rational consumption of this type of packaging. For this reason, it sets a weekly limit on plastic beverage cans and bottles for which citizens get points when recycling.

“We work to be a respectful shopping center for the environment and in addition to a commercial mix our goal is to offer all kinds of services to make the experience of our customers even more complete, so thanks to this initiative we’ve managed to contribute to the environment and also make it in a more attractive way thanks to the drawings and advantages that the customer gets for recycling with us their cans and bottles” said Virginia Carrasco, director of the Portal de la Marina shopping mall.  “With the implementation of RECICLOS in this shopping center we are linking recycling to our leisure time. In addition, we achieve that through the simple gesture of recycling, the Alicante people can help those who need it most. In this way, recycling and solidarity go hand in hand as we advance in the circular economy, “said Xavier Balagué, manager of Ecoembes in the Valencian Community. 

This shopping center of Alicante joins the Zenia Boulevard, also located in this province, in incorporating machines that reward for recycling. In addition, RECICLOS is present in other parts of the Valencian Community, such as municipal and sports markets in the city of Valencia, the maritime stations of Baleària in Valencia and Denia or the City of Arts and Sciences, where there are already machines of this SDR. In addition, the yellow containers of the city of Valencia also have RECICLOS technology, More and more inhabitants of this region can contribute to take care of their nearest environment and their own neighbors through this pioneering recycling system.

This is how RECICLOS reward recycling works
To make use of the RECICLOS machines, Alicante customers only have to register with the webapp (app.reciclos.com), deposit all their cans and plastic beverage bottles in a RECICLOS machine and scan the QR that will show the machine. 
In doing so, they will get points, called RECICLOS, which they can exchange for the different rewards available, such as, in the case of the Portal de la Marina shopping center, delivery of food donation projects for vulnerable people. These points will have a weekly limit so that citizens not only recycle more and better their packaging, but consume responsibly. 

About Ecoembes 
Ecoembes is the environmental non-profit organisation that coordinates the recycling of plastic containers, cans and briks (yellow container) and cardboard and paper containers (blue container) in Spain. 
In 2020, 1,490,283 tons of household packaging from yellow and blue street containers, selective collection at high-influx sites and municipal waste plants were delivered to recycling facilities. As a result, numerous environmental benefits were obtained such as avoiding the emission of 1.67 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere or saving 20.29 million m3 of water and 6.37 million Mwh of energy.

Portal de La Marina, a safe shopping centre.
Portal de la Marina is a completely safe shopping centre thanks to the strict hygiene, disinfection and capacity control measures taken since its reopening on 1 June 2020, following the health crisis caused by COVID-19. These initiatives and work carried out with the aim of ensuring the health of its customers, employees and suppliers have been recognized by the SGS quality certificate, an external and pioneering endorsement in the retail sector that ensures that the centre complies with the guidelines set by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of this disease.
Of course, all events and special actions will have these measures and extra reinforcement to ensure that all security protocols are complied with and the visits of the public to the mall are carried out in a framework of security and satisfactory trust.
The Portal de la Marina Shopping Center has the largest commercial and leisure offer of the Marina Alta with an area of more than 40,000 square meters, more than 100 shops, 10 restaurants, a large supply of food by Carrefour, a multi-stage cinema and 1653 parking spaces.