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Extractive activities constitute an essential strategic sector in the renewable transformation of the new energy model that the European Union is ambitiously promoting through numerous regulatory and strategic instruments in the last five years from the Paris Agreement until the recent approval of the proposed regulatory package "Fit for 55" and the European Climate Law, with the aim of achieving climate neutrality in 2050. To achieve this objective, the so-called critical mineral resources (CRM, critical raw materials) constitute a key element related to climate change and the development of renewable technologies of the new energy model, once again placing these activities at the center of the history of industrial and economic transformations, this time in the 21st century. Despite the impetus and attention from the European Union, through the EU Action Plan on minerals and raw materials essential for the development of strategic sectors and the promotion of their extraction, in Spain we continue in a regime of exceptionality and constitutional abnormality before the still pending Law of Bases of the Mining Regime (art. 149.1.25) that adapts the preconstitutional Law of 1973 to the organization and competences of the Autonomous State, and that dynamizes and promotes a new intelligent and environmentally climatic mining (Smart Mining) both with a current regulation in the granting of permits and concessions, as happens in the legislation of neighboring countries, as well as with the introduction of technologies that facilitate the search for resources with new prospecting methods and the resolution of mineral problems and improvement of the final products. However, maintaining a tradition of the Governments in Spain of the absence of regulatory predetermination and great discretion in their actions and decisions, paradoxically these activities have not received the slightest attention in the three pillars of our Strategic Framework for Energy and Climate, leaving a mere very punctual mention, and also in a prohibitive sense, in the recent Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed at examining, albeit briefly, the method, content and application of the mandatory financial guarantees imposed on operators by Law 26/2007, of October 23, on Environmental Responsibility (hereinafter LRM). We propose the need to subscribe in one of its modalities to every operator included in Annex III of the Law, highlighting three of its fundamental aspects: its requirement, its application and its purpose. Taking into account the principle of “whoever pollutes pays”, it is necessary for any operator that starts an activity with a significant risk to the environment, to subscribe to one of the modalities of the guarantees established in sections a), b) and c) of art. 26 of the LRM, to meet the obligations and responsibilities that the Law imposes on it as an operator. What is sought with these guarantee modalities is to ensure that the operator whose activity presents a greater potential of risk for the environment, can have the economic resources necessary to face environmental responsibilities and the high costs that adoption entails. of such measures to maintain a healthy and sustainable environment. Reference should be made to the environmental insurance policy, as the most common form of financial guarantees. Due to its characteristics and unique nature, it requires specific treatment. Therefore, we consider that, if these guarantees are not made mandatory, the environmental protection system established in the LRM would be significantly damaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy paradigm represents a space for innovation and for the greening of the productive model that can bring not only environmental but also social and economic benefits. Spain has recently approved its first Circular Economy Action Plan, which, in the absence of an updated Waste and Contaminated Land Law in line with European regulations, is the first concrete expression of the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy paradigm represents a space for innovation and for the greening of the productive model that can bring not only environmental but also social and economic benefits. Spain has recently approved its first Circular Economy Action Plan, which, in the absence of an updated Waste and Contaminated Land Law in line with European regulations, is the first concrete expression of the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste has been generating environmental problems for a long time, but some, such as packaging and plastics, have a proven utility (as we are verifying during the coronavirus epidemic); justifying the intervention of the Law. This regulation has evolved according to the perception of the environmental problems posed by waste, packaging and plastics; specifically, from the idea of "produce, use and throw away" it has moved to the circular economy. The work analyzes this normative evolution in the European Union and in Spain, from the original regulation to the current one, which already incorporates the philosophy of the circular economy, mainly in relation to plastics, and particularly at the national level, with projects and standards new in this matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Green Pact (European Green Deal) constitutes the most ambitious plan in history in environmental and sustainability matters, both for the objectives set and for the planned funding, and aims to place the European Union in a position of world leadership in the field, although the coronavirus crisis generated in China and spreading rapidly throughout the world produces certain uncertainties for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its inception, the European Union has boosted the creation of a binding shared legal framework for the present Member States including Spain. In this context, the European Union has promoted the creation of a legal body aiming at protecting the environment which is one of its main goals. The inception of the First Environmental Action Programme in 1973 fostered the adoption of more than one hundred documents with regard to this field during the seventies. The Community has set many objectives in its environmental policy. These appear in the Article 191.1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The principle of integration of the environmental protection requirements into the definition and implementation of the Union’s policies and activities (article 11), “in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development” has been the pillar upholding different policies fostering an efficient use of resources. In the field of waste management the Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste and repealing certain Directives in connection with the Union's Europe 2020 strategy, harmonizes the Union’s economic development with an efficient use of resources. Consequently, one of the most ambitious Union’s claims is preventing waste generation and if they are produced, its proper management, prioritizing the waste hierarchy established in the Article 4 of the Directive: prevention, preparing for re-use, recycling, other recovery, (e.g. energy recovery) and disposal. As will be discussed, wastes from edible vegetable oils produced in the HORECA channel can be transformed in other products. Due to its polluting potential and its market value, this option has to be a priority for the Member States that must ensure an effective and efficient management of this waste flow. Additionally, we will have the opportunity of analyzing the territorial competence under the scope of the article 12.5.c).2º of the Ley 22/2011 that regulates the optional activity of local councils regarding with non-hazardous commercial wastes. Notwithstanding, the national legal framework covers the local councils in order to compel the producers of these wastes to join the municipal management system, as long as this obligation is motivated and based on criteria of efficacy and efficiency on waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]