Alicante activates new line to convert brown bin waste into compost

The Alicante City Council has received and launched the new line for bio-waste refining at the Alicante Waste Treatment Centre (Cetra), enabling the conversion of organic waste from the city-wide deployment of the brown bin into high-quality compost for agriculture and gardening. With an investment of €2.4 million, Alicante achieves a more sustainable waste treatment and advances in the implementation of circular economy systems that allow greater reuse of organic waste produced in the city.

The Councillor for Street Cleaning and Waste Management, Rafael Alemañ, stated that "after receiving the new facility, we are launching the new and advanced refining line to improve the treatment of bio-waste produced in the city, which will allow us to advance in sustainability and promote the circular economy, generating more than 30,000 tonnes of high-quality compost annually for the fertilisation of green areas and agricultural uses, following European directives."

Alemañ explained that "the City Council is working on a modernisation and improvement programme for Cetra and the Fontcalent landfill, amounting to €17.68 million, of which €10.7 million is provided by UTE Alicante - mainly for improvements in the plant and landfill - and the rest by the City Council, with contributions from European funds, the Generalitat, and its own resources, primarily for the development of the new bio-waste treatment line."

For this new bio-waste treatment line, the City Council has awarded contracts worth €4.7 million, which increase Cetra's capacity to transform more than 50 tonnes of organic waste into compost.

In this regard, the City Council awarded the purchase and installation of new machinery for the refining of bio-stabilised waste, for another €2,390,721.90 to the UTE formed by Tamesur S.A. and Estudios, Dirección e Investigación en Fermentaciones Especiales S.A., while it has pre-awarded to Industrial Leblan S.L., pending confirmation by the Government Board, the contract for the supply and installation of machinery for the pre-treatment of the organic fraction of separately collected waste for another €2,351,535.78.

Furthermore, the City Council is also approving the supply of new machinery for the modernisation of the current waste treatment line at Cetra and to strengthen selection at the plant. To this end, a new optical separator for polypropylene containers has been incorporated in 2025, supplied by Tamesur S.A. for €198,825.69.

Additionally, new heavy machinery has been acquired and installed for €906,277.90, consisting of a triple classification trommel and conveyor belts for the modernisation of current treatment processes. This entire investment has been made over the past year, during which the entire network of containers for different fractions for selective collection has been renewed, including the deployment of the brown bin for organic waste throughout the city.

The municipal government approved in the Government Board session on July 17 the feasibility study, of private initiative, presented by Prezero, for the management of the plant for 20 years with an investment of €93 million. This document will serve as the basis for drafting the preliminary project and tendering the new concession with the aim of awarding the new contract in approximately nine months.

The approved feasibility study includes the construction of a new sorting plant for the residual fraction, in the current building, with 2,150 square metres and capacity to receive waste generated over three days. It will expand from one to two treatment lines with a capacity of 80 tonnes per hour. A new plant for the organic fraction will also be built, with a sorting building and another for bio-stabilisation with a treatment capacity of 30 tonnes per hour and 60,000 per year, in addition to the newly installed refining line to obtain high-quality compost for gardening and agriculture.

The preliminary project study for the new Cetra also includes a production line for recovered solid fuel (CSR) to increase waste recovery and the improvement of the biomethanisation plant by updating the vertical digester to process 30,000 tonnes per year.

Additionally, the renovation of the area for the treatment of vegetable and construction waste is also planned, with a new composting building of 2,500 square metres, in a pre-treatment area of nearly 20,000 square metres. This plant will have the capacity to generate 4,000 tonnes of vegetable compost per year for gardening and agriculture, as well as another 6,000 tonnes for landfill cover.

The biogas recovery facility will also be updated with two engines offering 3.4 megawatts, replacing one of the current engines, to meet the energy needs of Cetra and the possibility of feeding up to 2.1 MW into the grid. The project also includes a leachate treatment plant using reverse osmosis and atmospheric evaporation, which will reduce waste from 10,000 to 3,000 cubic metres per year.

Finally, the capacity of the current landfill cells is set at one million tonnes in cell number 4, which will meet the plant's needs until 2037, with the possibility of expanding by another nearly one million cubic metres, ensuring the landfill's lifespan for the 20 years proposed by the concession.