Petronor presented a new project in September, according to Naiz. It aims to collect and transform all the ashes and slag from incinerators considered dangerous for incorporation into buildings and public works through concrete, tiles, curbs and masonry. To do so, the company intends to build a plant in the port of Zierbena.

The project aims to transform the ashes into another residue. This residue, however, should be qualified by the Ministry for its acceptance, analyzing its characteristics and dangerousness.

On September 5, the Director of Environmental Quality and Circular Economy published the Petronor project in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country.

The project states that “much of the raw material (waste) of the new plant comes from thermal installations (incinerators, etc. ), this thermal plant being mainly RSU incinerator ash slag or combustion plants (APCr)”.

Furthermore, the project explains that incinerators work throughout the year less than 100 kilometres from the location of the plant: “There is more in Asturias, Catalonia, Madrid, Galicia and Zaragoza, among others”.

Project hazard

The project clarifies that fifteen of the waste they want to bring to the Zierbena plant are “dangerous”, but points out that they will be transported “with closed tanker trucks”. Given the risk of “emission of solid particles in the air” during loading and unloading, the company clarifies that it will be carried out “automatically”: “It is planned to provide silos with filters to collect and purify diffuse dust emissions that may occur during loading of these substances”.

Not yet authorised

The company has set the objective of the process: “We want to consolidate the CO2 generated in the industrial installations of Petronor to transform a waste generated in the thermal installations of our environment into a new commercial material.”

This new material is yet to be known. The company has announced that it is an eco-aggregate (recycled) material that will be used in the construction sector and that it will avoid the extraction of natural aggregates from quarries.

Petronor has not yet obtained the necessary permits: “According to Article 5 of Law 7/2022 of 8 April on Waste of Circular Economy and Contaminated Soils, work is being done on having documentation to prove the disappearance of the residual nature of the material produced.”