Redaccion
The citizens of Benidorm have once again embraced the ‘Caps for a New Life’ campaign by the SEUR Foundation, in collaboration with the Benidorm City Council, to promote the recycling of bottle caps for a charitable cause: providing medical treatment or materials to children in need that are not covered by the healthcare system or cannot be obtained through other means. The Councilor for the Environment, Mónica Gómez, announced the results of this campaign in 2024, where the Foundation collected over 1.5 million bottle caps deposited by the people of Benidorm in heart-shaped containers located in various parts of the city.
Gómez emphasized that «the funds obtained from recycling these bottle caps are used to assist children with medical needs, thereby not only reducing our environmental impact but also improving the quality of life for many children and their families.» She also explained that the SEUR Foundation is responsible for collecting and delivering these bottle caps to a recycling company that pays per ton at market price.
In Benidorm, the total amount collected in the six heart-shaped containers installed by the City Council in different areas of the city amounted to 1,575,000 bottle caps, weighing a total of 3.15 tons, resulting in an economic contribution of 630 euros, as stated by the councilor.
Furthermore, Gómez mentioned that the recycling process of these bottle caps prevented the emission of 4.73 tons of CO2 – the main gas responsible for climate change – into the atmosphere, equivalent to a flight of 42,114 kilometers or more than a full round-trip flight around the Earth. To illustrate the impact more graphically, she highlighted that if lined up, all the bottle caps would cover a distance of 47 kilometers, and the proper management of these waste materials would equate to the CO2 absorbed by a forest of 788 trees in a year or emitted by a heated apartment continuously for nearly 19 years.
«In Benidorm, we have installed six containers to facilitate the collection of bottle caps in all neighborhoods,» stated Gómez, specifying their locations in La Cala (Secretario Juan Baldoví Street), Rincón de Loix (Juan Fuster Zaragoza Street), Els Tolls (Avenida Bélgica), Colonia Madrid (Llorca Linares Social Center), and two in the central area: one on Maravall Street with Neptune Square and another on Aigüera Avenue, very close to the City Hall.
She also recalled that since 2011, when the ‘Caps for a New Life’ project began, nearly 200 children from all over Spain have benefited from assistance in financing their medical or orthopedic treatments, thanks to a fundraising total exceeding 1.3 million euros. One of them was Leo, a young resident of Benidorm, who received 3,200 euros a few years ago to secure his aquatic therapy sessions as a treatment for Hirschsprung’s Disease, associated with Down syndrome.
For this reason, Mónica Gómez expressed her gratitude for «the involvement of the citizens of Benidorm who have wholeheartedly embraced this initiative aimed at improving the quality of life for the youngest members of our community,» emphasizing that «in addition to its charitable purpose, it also has a positive impact on the environment by promoting plastic recycling and reducing CO2 emissions.»
