At the end of 2024, reports appeared on social networks that Spaniards were supposedly forced to pay €5 to throw away food waste - this is the only way to open the appropriate container. We decided to check if this is true.

A 45-second video went viral on popular Russian-language Telegram channels: in it, a man approaches trash cans and tries to open the one marked with the word Organica. Despite the fact that the hero of the video pulls the lid forcefully several times, the container does not open. An electronic panel is visible on the case, to which, apparently, you need to attach a card in order for the tank to open. A video with a comment about the need to pay €5 to open a container was published “Truthfulness"(178,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Putin on Telegram" (176,000), "Voblya • news" (142,000), "Sheikh Tamir"(140,000), "Dmitry Vasilets» (126,000) and other popular channels. Social network users also published posts about this resonant innovation: “VKontakte", X, Threads, Facebook* and others. Some posts note that trash cans in France will soon suffer a similar fate.

In 2018, the EU introduced new rulesregulating the separation and sorting of waste in the member countries of the union. After this, in the cities of some regions of Spain (for example, in Vigo, Girona and Burgos) began to appear electronic locks on containers with organic waste, that is, food waste of biological origin. This is done to simplify waste recycling - in this way the authorities are trying to avoid mixing different types of waste. It is expected that residents who are forced to use a card to open such containers will be more conscious about separate waste collection and will not throw other types of waste there. City residents can receive a card for free and use it not only to open garbage cans, but also in transport, as well as to access some other municipal services. In Zaragoza, for example, cards are completely sent out by mail to all residents, and they were anonymous. But you can open the container without them, using the mobile application.

The innovation, judging by explanatory articles in the media, really caused some resonance among the Spaniards, but they are mainly concerned about the safety of personal data. In cases where the cards were not issued anonymously, it was not clear to people what information about them was collected and where it was transferred. “Verified” was unable to find evidence in the media or on the official portals of Spanish cities that the use of garbage containers for food waste will be paid. This contradicts the very idea of such containers: they are trying to motivate the Spaniards to be more careful in sorting waste. Introducing a fee for access to a specific trash bin would only have the opposite effect: people would start throwing organic waste into other open containers.

The author of the viral video behind the scenes is actually extremely indignant that he cannot simply open the tank and is forced to use some kind of cards to do this. He criticizes (in Spanish) the environmental agenda and even says that it all resembles a dystopia and a dictatorship. However, he does not claim that you have to pay to use the dumpster; the video does not mention the €5 that appears in most posts, nor any other amount. At the same time, the video does not have a translation into Russian or at least Spanish subtitles. Therefore, a Russian-speaking user, if he does not know Spanish, needs to make significant efforts to understand what the Spaniard is actually saying. The viral video, judging by the inscriptions on garbage cans, was filmed in Vigo, Spain. This city was one of the first to introduce a system of access to containers with organic waste using cards. Mayor of Vigo Abel Caballero back in 2020 with his own hand showed journalists how to use these cards. There was no talk of any payment.

Map PassVigo, which you need to press to open the trash can in the viral video, is actually not free. To receive it, you need to fill out an application and pay a one-time amount, however, much more modest than stated in the posts. The cost varies from €0.39 to €0.53, pensioners are exempt from this contribution. PassVigo can be used as transport map, use it to visit cities sports complexes and open garbage containers for organic waste. To travel on public transport, the card needs to be topped up (the website provides a link to the relevant tariffs), but on the page dedicated to waste collection, nothing is said about payment.

In the Spanish-language segment of the Internet video got infected back in March 2024. However, no one discussed the expected payment of €5 there - not even in the posts, nor in the comments below them. The earliest publication in Russian about the need to pay €5 to open a container was made on December 26, 2024 at 17:28 Moscow time in the Telegram channel “Secondary News Agency"(14,000 views at the time of writing the analysis). On the same day, similar publications, word for word coinciding with the first Russian-language post, appeared in other channels.

Thus, there is no evidence that any Spanish city charges a fee for using rubbish bins. The viral video, which became the source of news for numerous publications, does not mention the need to pay money, but only that to access the container you need to attach a card. Moreover, these are not bank cards from which money can be debited, but city cards - they are issued to residents free of charge, and in some cases they are even sent by mail. One might assume that it is not entirely clear in the video which cards we are talking about, which is why there was confusion. However, the specific amount mentioned in the posts suggests, rather, that the author of the original post in Russian is deliberately misleading Internet users.

Cover photo: Vigo. a cidade máis limpa /Facebook

*Russian authorities consider the company Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, to be an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.