The Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Centre is Valorsul's unit where the household waste that we don't separate is burned and, at the same time, electricity is produced.

Around 2,000 tonnes of solid urban waste enter the plant every day. The lorries that collect the waste are weighed in the weighbridge area, at the entrance and exit of the facilities, so we know how much waste they have deposited at the Plant. Once the lorries have been weighed, they head to the unloading platform and deposit the waste in a large pit.

The two grapples mix the waste and take it to the hoppers. The hoppers are giant funnels that take the waste to the furnaces.

Inside the furnace, waste is burnt at around 900°C. The plant has three furnaces and around 28 tonnes of waste are incinerated per hour in each furnace.

The heat created during combustion transforms the water in the boiler into steam. This steam comes out of the boiler with a lot of pressure, running the turbine and the electricity generator. Part of the electricity produced is then exported to the National Electricity Grid. The electricity we export would be enough to power a city of 150,000 inhabitants!

The gases released during the burning of waste are treated using a modern gas treatment system. Pollutants are removed from the released gases, resulting in fly ash, which is sent to a treatment facility suitable for hazardous waste.

We call what remains of the waste after it has been burnt slag. The slag is cooled, stored and then sent to the Slag Treatment and Recovery Plant.

This plant separates the ferrous and non-ferrous metal from the slag to send it for recycling. The ferrous metal separated over a year would be enough to build 16,500 cars. Once recovered, the slag can be used to build road sub-bases or to cover landfills.