New mechanical sorting plant for Ibiza

The facility was commissioned in December 2020 by UTE (temporary consortium) GIREF, which is charged with the planning, construction and management of the facilities for the Ibiza and Formentera Waste Management Plan.

Toni Roig, the new facility’s manager for UTE GIREF, states: “We put out to tender the supply of the equipment and we analyzed various proposals. Stadler, a company with a prestigious reputation in the design, supply and installation of equipment we had already worked with, submitted the best proposal – both technically and economically – with a solution that met our requirements.”

Sustainable criteria have guided the design and construction of the facility, which is located in Ca na Putxa, near the island’s landfill site. Water obtained by a process of osmosis from landfill leachate was used to mix the concrete. The plant’s air purifying system uses a biofilter for odor elimination. The installation of photovoltaic panels on the roofing of the 30,000 m2 covered area is planned.

The sorting plant consists of three automated lines. Two twinned lines are used to sort urban solid waste and light packaging on separate shifts. A third, independent line is dedicated to organic waste from segregated collection and uses the latest sorting technologies for biological treatment processes.

Luis Sánchez, Stadler Operations Director in Spain, says: “The process uses the latest technology to increase recovery rates and sort the majority of the recyclable materials.” The facility is designed to process up to 120,000 tons of urban solid waste, 6,000 tons of packaging and 20,000 tons of organic waste from segregated collection.

The facility aims to comply with European waste treatment regulations, and strives to be a model for sustainable operation and for raising public awareness. To this end, the complex includes a conference room with interpretation facilities to host guided visits and outreach activities.

Thanks to the advanced technologies in the Ca na Putxa plant, after sorting and bag opening, the waste can be fed into the screening process, which uses trommels to separate fractions that are mostly organic from those that have a high content of packaging and recyclable materials. The organic material is then refined on two lines to obtain maximum quality compost and biostabilized waste through a biological treatment process.

The other materials are processed through ballistic separators. Depending on their rigidity, they are fed into the different optical sorting, and ferrous and non-ferrous sorting chutes. Having gone through quality control, the sorted materials are stored in automated bunkers for baling at a later stage. The output at the end of the process consists of PET, PEAD, PEBD, PP, TETRAPACK, P/C, organic film, iron and aluminium fractions, and waste.