Águilas volunteers rewarded with bench made using plastic they collected from the sea

Street furniture is one of 16 created as part of Coca-Cola’s Mares Circulares project to mitigate the effects of plastic pollution

A public bench, made with plastic waste collected from the sea, has been presented to Águilas Town Hall, in recognition of the commitment to the environment shown by participants in the initiative.

It is one of 16 that have been distributed around Spain by the Mares Circulares project, which was set up by Coca-Cola in 2018 to protect and conserve the sea and aquatic environments in Spain and Portugal, and to promote the circular economy.

The global corporation has committed to collect the equivalent of between 70% and 75% of the bottles and cans it sells each year, starting with removing them from beaches, marine reserves and the seabed.

This is particularly important since a peer-reviewed study in the journal ‘Science’ found that Coca-Cola was the number one polluter of branded plastic found in the environment.

Águilas Town Hall has collaborated with Mares Circulares on seven clean-ups involving more than 400 volunteers, and collecting over 500 kilograms of waste .

This commitment has been recognised as one of 16 institutions and organisations around the country to receive these exclusive benches.

The presentation was made on June 28 as part of the activities related to World Environment Day (June 5) and World Oceans Day (June 8).

The bench has been installed in the park on the Paseo de Parra, opposite the exercise area on Playa de las Delicias.

Each one is made up of 30% PET plastic collected during the project’s clean-ups, which is a very degraded plastic that cannot be recycled by the usual channels.

They also contain 50% recycled polyethylene to give them structural resistance, and 20% coloured plastic from recycled fruit packing cases.

Their durability and usefulness has been validated by a research process led by Plàstic Preciòs, an NGO based in La Safor, Valencia, which specialises in raising awareness about the circular economy and recycling of plastic.

This research and craftsmanship has enabled these materials to be turned into functional street furniture, and each one has a QR code which links to a video explaining the process of collecting and transforming the plastic.

“These benches are a way of showing that the circular economy is possible when science, community and industry all row in the same direction,” according to Mares Circulares’ communications manager for the south-east, Alfredo Peña.

Águilas Councillor for the Environment, Ginés Desiderio Navarro Aragoneses, assured that initiatives like Mares Circulares are “of tremendous importance” to educate young people about collection of waste from beaches and the impact of plastics on flora and fauna, including humans.

He thanked Coca-Cola, the associations Chelonia and Vertidos Cero, the Ecomar foundation, the ‘League for the Protection of Nature’ (LPN), the national government’s secretary for fishing and, especially the teachers and pupils of IES Alfonso Escámez secondary school.

“Their participation, year after year, in the Mares Circulares project shows their dedication to conservation and improving the state of our seas,” the councillor said.

The school’s director, Rosario Clares emphasised the importance of schools participating in activities involving students to conserve the environment, as well as the involvement of institutions and businesses in research to turn rubbish into useful items.

Since 2018, Mares Circulares has removed 31 tonnes of PET plastic from coastlines and seabeds, mobilising 54,000 volunteers in 17 autonomous regions collecting over 2,668 tonnes of waste.

In 2024, the project mobilised 9,731 volunteers, who collected over 376 tonnes of waste and held public awareness activities which 10,946 people took part in.

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Image: Ayuntamiento de Águilas