Our Church’s enthusiastic Environmental Team decided that a trip to the local rubbish dump would be an entertaining tour to offer the congregation. A visit to the ‘Waste Recycling & Processing Plant’ run by Urbaser on the Casares - Estepona Road was duly organised, with aim of learning about what really does happen to all of our rubbish.
Urbaser collects household refuse from the eleven municipalities from Torremolinos to Manilva, including Mijas, Ojen and Istan, which form the Mancomunidad de Municipalities de Costa del Sol Occidental. The company employs 300 local employees, working three shifts.
This site treats the waste from a normal population of 600,000 residents which rises dramatically to some 2 million during the summer months, generating some 350,000 tons of rubbish. Yesterday 96,000 kilos from Marbella alone were weighed on the weighbridge at the reception area of the station.
Different trucks gather the different coloured containers: General – Grey; Yellow – plastic & metal; Green – Glass; Blue – Paper. Urbaser treats only the General and Plastic, while Glass and Paper are handled by other specialist companies.
After the lorries have unloaded the contents into the large pits where operators employ large grabs, nicknamed the Octopus, to load the rubbish onto conveyors which then enter the plant. Plastic from Yellow containers is deposited in a separate area, for collection by Ecoembes who remove it for recycling.
From there, all refuse is sorted, passing through a multitude of different processes which shake, tumble and sift it; then it goes through many various machines including metallic and optical sorters, to separate it into its various types. Through this system metals and plastics that were not placed in the recycling bins are recovered. The final sorting process handled by humans. Thus, Urbaser recovers 90% of plastics that are incorrectly placed in the general Grey bins.
A remarkable feature was how clean the factory itself was, inside and out, with the surrounding areas planted up with flowerbeds and trees. It was very noisy inside, with all the conveyor belts and machines hard at work, but surprizingly, there was very little offensive smell. The people doing the final sorting work in enclosed areas which are ventilated and airconditioned, insulated against the noise, heat and any fumes.
The organic household waste that is suitable for composting is taken to a covered fermentation centre the size of 5 football pitches, where it lies for some two months, for end use as fertiliser. The remainder, that which could not be recovered for recycling or composting, is destined for landfill in the area around the plant. It is compressed into bales of one and a half meters, then stacked (in places to the height of a 20 storey building), covered with soil, and vegetation including bushes and trees are planted on top. The base of the landfill site is covered in various materials which prevent any seepage into the water courses, and chimneys are in place to release any methane gas buildup.
Spain has a plastic recycling policy operated by the non-profit organisation Ecoembes, which levies a small charge on all plastic items which bears its mark. This funds the collection of plastics, drinks cartons and cans, without any charge to local town councils. The plastics are collected, sorted and sent to recycling companies which repurpose it into new items, for example 40 PET plastic water bottles can be converted into a fleece, 80 tin cans go to make a bicycle rim, and just 6 tetra bricks make a shoebox.
Glass is recovered through the company Ecovidrio. The collection of glass is also free of charge to local councils. Due to the weight, it makes sense to place in the Green bins allocated and not into the Grey general rubbish which does cost the Council, and therefore us via the basura levy.
A few interesting and relevant facts. Items that do not fit into any of the above mentioned categories must be delivered to the Punto Limpios (Clean points) which exist along the coast, or specialist collection stations. This includes items such as medicines, window glass, light bulbs, aerosols, batteries, cooking fat, to mention a few.
Public education is a priority for Urbaser, and they encourage visits from the public, including the many schools in the area. Last year they had some 4,000 visitors on site.
Our tour of Urbaser site was extremely impressive, enlightening and enjoyable. No-one could leave there cynical about whether it is worth sorting one’s rubbish.