In the past year, the Centre produced and sold to the public network the energy equivalent to that consumed together by the towns of Arenys de Mar, Pineda de Mar and Premià de Mar

Here are the operation date of the Centre Integral de Valorització de Residus del Maresme, and some clarifications and comments to correctly interpret them.

YEAR                                                                 2009                 2010                 2009/2010

Mixed waste fraction input (tons)                    176,618             173,362                 -1.84 %

Biowaste input (tons)                                       17,610               25,185                   43.02 %

Electric power production (MWh)                     86,105              80,988                   -5.94 %

Self consumption by the Centre (MWh)            13,348              12,726                   -4.66 %

Sold to the public network (MWh)                    72,889               68,262                   -6.35 %

Recycled slag (tons)                                          41,980              40,912                   -2.54 %

Recycled scrap iron (Kg)                                     854                   675                     -20.96 %

It is important to remember that the tons of the mixed waste fraction (all the waste that cannot be recycled) are treated in the Waste-to-Energy plant, where energy is recovered and generated. In 2010, the energy sold to the public network is equivalent to the amount that would be consumed in the homes of the inhabitants of the towns of Arenys de Mar, Pineda de Mar and Premià de Mar combined.

Concerning the biowaste (separated organic fraction) input, the Centre does not treat it, but transfers it to the final treatment facility. The great increase of this fraction is due to the fact that from June 2010 all the tons of biowaste in the area go through the transference line of the Centre, while before a part of them went directly to the treatment facility (Ecoparc 2).

Regarding the slag and the recycled iron scraps, these are subproducts of the incineration process that can be recovered for their use in civil works –in the case of slag–, and recycled as metal –in the case of scrap iron–.

Incident due to the temporal closure of one of the lines of the Plant

The decrease of some of the figures in 2010 in comparison with those of 2009, like the mixed waste fraction input, the electricity production, and the generation of subproducts, are due to the closure of L1 (one of the process lines) from 20 November to present.

This closure is framed within the improvement works of the thermal capacity of the Waste-to-Energy plant in order to adapt it to the new combustible waste that will come to the furnaces from the MBT plant, which was opened in July 2010 and is currently being started.

For this reason and regardless of the 2010 data, it must be taken into account that on January 22 the second line was also stopped and the Centre will be completely closed for around five weeks.

It is planned for the plant to begin working at its full capacity on 10 May 2011. During the time the Waste-to-Energy plant cannot work at full capacity or is completely closed, the mixed waste fraction will be sent to the landfills in Hostalets de Pierola or Vacarisses.