The facility has restored 70% of its operational capacity after cleaning, recovery and testing of treatment lines for its complete rehabilitation.
The Gran Canaria Island Council has proceeded with the gradual reopening of the Gran Canaria South Ecopark after completing the priority actions to recover part of the operational capacity affected by the fire on August 7th.
The Minister of Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge of the Gran Canaria Island Council, Raúl García Brink, visited the southern environmental complex this Wednesday to learn about the progress of the work and the state of the facilities, as well as the device put in place to guarantee the continuity of the island's waste management system during its closure.
García Brink pointed out that “the fire caused a series of significant damages, which forced a restructuring of waste management on the island of Gran Canaria, with the Ecoparque Norte, in Salto del Negro, having to handle a volume of waste above its capacity, forcing the implementation of the established measures and making a very significant effort with overtime hours.”
In this regard, he expressed his gratitude for the involvement of the responsible companies, “whose work has been key to maintaining the smooth operation of the public service, acting with speed, coordination, and dedication.” He also acknowledged the collaboration of the municipal cleaning services, operators, and citizens, who contributed to facilitating operations during the incident.
The reinstatement of services will be carried out gradually, taking into account the available operational capacity and prioritizing the municipalities furthest from the North Ecopark, which has temporarily assumed the management of waste from the south during the closure of the Juan Grande facility.
The reopening of the South Ecopark has allowed the gradual recovery of the urban solid waste collection lines, corresponding to the grey and brown containers, assuming approximately 70% of the service for these fractions.
Meanwhile, repairs are underway on the pruning shredders and operational testing is being carried out on the new bulky waste shredding plant. Until it is operational, this waste will be temporarily managed at Salto del Negro.
The municipal cleaning officials of each city council will be notified individually as the reopening process progresses and the storage capacity of the complex is expanded.
Favorable evolution of the works
The fire that occurred in early August, fueled by wind conditions and the dryness of the plant material accumulated since the high temperature episode that began on July 29, affected several operational areas of the Gran Canaria South Ecopark, causing damage to the crushing machinery, the pit area of the sorting plant and various essential elements for the treatment of waste.
The rapid intervention of the emergency teams and the activation of the facility's own fire protection systems made it possible to contain the fire and proceed with cleaning, managing the burned material and carrying out safety checks.
As formally communicated to the Government of the Canary Islands in compliance with the Integrated Environmental Authorization, part of the remaining fraction had to be sent to a landfill for disposal without prior treatment, in accordance with the procedures provided for exceptional situations.
This measure was applied only for the time necessary to reactivate the Ecoparque GC Sur sorting plant, which eleven days after the fire has already recovered around 70% of its operating capacity.
The collaboration of the companies responsible for waste management has been essential to carry out the priority repairs and perform the necessary operational tests to ensure that operations can be carried out safely on some of the treatment lines.
The Gran Canaria Island Council appreciates the effort made by the companies in charge of operating the ecoparks, Ute Complejo Ambiental Juan Grande and UTE Complejo Ambiental Salto del Negro, both formed by Prezero Gestión de residuos SAU and Ayagaures Medio Ambiente SL, which have shown a remarkable capacity for response.
The island institution continues to work in coordination with technical services, Ecopark staff and emergency teams to restore full operation of the facility as quickly as possible, always ensuring the safety of workers and the proper management of the island's waste.
