Lanzarote recycled the most glass in the Canary Islands

Lanzarote has once again emerged as the Canary Islands’ leading recycler of glass per inhabitant, according to the latest 2025 figures released by Ecovidrio, the organisation responsible for managing the recycling of glass containers across Spain.

During the past year, residents across the Canary Islands deposited more than 47,800 tonnes of glass containers into green recycling bins. Although this represented a 3% drop compared to the previous year, the decline has been linked to a reduction of around 2% in the consumption of single-use glass containers, which naturally affects the amount of waste generated and collected.

On average, each resident in the Canary Islands recycled 21.3 kilograms of glass in 2025, the equivalent of around 73 containers per person. This places the archipelago above the national average of 20 kilograms and 68 containers per inhabitant.

In total, more than 164 million glass containers were recycled across the islands during the year, equating to over 448,000 containers every day and more than 300 every minute.

Lanzarote Far Ahead

By island, Lanzarote recorded by far the highest recycling rate, with 43.9 kilograms of glass recycled per person. Fuerteventura followed with 35.9 kilograms per capita, while La Palma registered 20.8 kg, La Gomera 19.7 kg, Gran Canaria 18.9 kg, El Hierro 18.5 kg, and Tenerife 17.6 kg per resident.

The exceptionally high figures in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are partly attributed to the strong influence of tourism, with visitor numbers significantly increasing consumption relative to the islands’ resident populations.

Tourist Municipalities Lead the Rankings

Among municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, Tías in Lanzarote topped the Canary Islands with an impressive 118.5 kilograms of glass recycled per person. Yaiza followed closely with 115.5 kg per capita, while Mogán in Gran Canaria reached 91.9 kg.

These figures further underline the impact tourism has on recycling volumes in holiday destinations.

Meanwhile, Santa Cruz de Tenerife recorded one of the strongest improvements among the provincial capitals, increasing glass collection by 8.2% and surpassing 2,600 tonnes of recycled glass for the first time.