[EN] The garbage revolution arrives in Zaragoza with an investment of close to 200 million euros

The Zaragoza City Council is preparing one of the most ambitious environmental projects in its history. The municipal government will approve in the coming days the start of the tender for Zaragoza Zero Waste, an initiative that will make it possible to convert all the non-recyclable garbage that today ends up in landfill into new fuels and raw materials for industry. The future plant, which will involve a minimum investment of close to 200 million euros, aims to place the Aragonese capital among the most advanced European cities in the circular economy.

The facility will be built next to the Zaragoza Urban Waste Treatment Centre (Ctruz) and will process around 150,000 tonnes of waste per year that are currently unused. Through state-of-the-art thermochemical processes, this waste will be transformed into products such as methanol, hydrogen and other fuels with a low carbon footprintor, reducing the need to deposit waste in landfill to practically zero.

In addition to the environmental impact, the project will also have a significant economic effect. The City Council estimates that avoiding the deposit of these 150,000 tons of waste will save at least 4.5 million euros a year in landfill costs.

WASTE WILL GENERATE NEW RAW MATERIALS

The investment will be assumed entirely by the company that is awarded, whose business model will be based on the commercialization of the products obtained during the industrial process. The mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, stressed that the initiative represents «a decisive step» to consolidate the city as a benchmark in technological innovation and sustainability.

As he explained, the objective is no longer just to recycle more, but to take advantage of all the resources present in waste to generate new raw materials, reduce emissions and contribute to the decarbonisation of industry through innovative solutions.

The future waste refinery will be added to other recent investments, such as the new plant for the treatment of the organic fraction or the specific line for packaging. According to Chueca, Zaragoza will strengthen the municipal strategy to become one of the hundred climate-neutral cities promoted by the European Union and consolidating a model in which garbage is no longer waste to become a new resource.