Sustainability and Conservation in Mallorca

Today, our group of enthusiastic natural scientists was lucky to visit TIRME - Environmental Technology Park Mallorca. This unique center is one of the leading waste management, technology and sustainability parks in Europe and in the world. Students learned about the park’s work in sustainably managing waste and recycling on the Balearic Islands, and developing new technologies to continue the advancement of this important initiative.

The TIRME visitor building is constructed from recycled materials, and students learned about different products that can be made from recyclables. They also played with toys built by local children out of recyclables, and toured the waste processing plants via an elevated train that reminded us of the airtrain at Disney World! (It was much more modern and pleasant-smelling than you might think…)

TIRME Educators and our Professor, Carmen, taught us about the different challenges that Mallorca has faced in implementing their new recycling and waste management laws, the progress that has been made in the past decade, and the optimistic goals for the future.

Mallorca is a prime example of the importance of caring for our natural resources, as the island’s economy is largely based on tourism which revolves around the island’s natural beauty. It is also the perfect place to study these issues and initiatives, as the people of Mallorca have taken tangible actions that can serve as a model for the rest of the world to follow as we all work towards developing more sustainable systems and technology for the future.

We ended this exciting tour with a workshop in which students shared their ideas for sustainable design. The future is looking bright, thanks to all that we learned at TIRME and our student’s enthusiasm for innovative sustainability solutions!