Glass recycling in Spain has doubled over the past five years and there is now a bottle bank for every 426 inhabitants, according to Ecovidrio (May 2003). Ecovidrio is the non-profit organisation which manages glass recycling in the country. With 41,700 more bottle banks since the law was established, Ecovidrio said in a statement that the number of people per container has fallen from 700 five years ago, to the present figure of 426, ensuring that 99% of the population is now within reach of a bottle bank. The weight of glass collected in bottle banks increased steadily by 51% between 1998 and 2002, following the introduction of the recycling law. Ecovidrio attributes the increase to greater public awareness and the continual growth of the recycling infrastructure, which today enable the recycling of 9 kilos of glass per person, against 6.6 in 1998.
