Incinerator plant set for extension

THE modifications to the Rubbish Management Plan should receive final approval towards the end of this year, so that the extension works to the Son Reus incinerator can begin at the end of 2007 or at the start of 2008, according to Miquel Riera, Head of the Council of Majorca's Local Co-operation Department. The information commission (CIM) had been expected to approve this modification as an urgent measure yesterday, but the process finally did not take place as one councillor was missing. It appears that the decision to enlarge the Son Reus Incinerator Plant will now be decided at the next council meeting, on 3 October. Riera justified the need to extend the incinerator, as from January 2006 the plant will have to handle 150'000 tons more waste because of the start of the Rubbish Plan, which will include guidelines for getting rid of rubble from construction sites. This is a “huge extra amount ”of waste, added Miquel Riera, who added that thanks to the enlargement of the incinerator, the Council of Majorca hopes that by 2010 “nothing ends up in the rubbish tips”. Apart from enlarging the Son Reus plant, the waste plan will also include a project to improve the treatment plants, and, amongst other things, change the transfer stations in outlying towns so that they can handle material for recycling. It will also mean the facilities are adapted to European guidelines.
In response to criticism from the Majorcan Socialist Party (PSM) who claimed they “were taken by surprise” by the modification, Riera said that all the political parties had been informed on 24 May.