Page 46 - Sinergia 56 | 2020
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EUROPE
PORTUGAL
VALORSUL
THE FIRST 25 YEARS
AN EXAMPLE IN THE PROCESSING AND CONVERSION OF WASTE INTO RESOURCES
Valorsul celebrates 25 years. On 16 September 1994, Valorsul, EGF’s concessionaire in the region of Lisbon (North), was born with the ambitious goal of finding a solution and a destination for the thousands of ton of municipal waste produced in Greater Lisbon, and later, in 2010, in the West Region.
Valorsul’s household waste treatment system is a milestone in the history of municipal waste recovery in Portugal.
Over 25 years, Valorsul has invested in the potential of waste as a real resource.
It was in Valorsul that Portugal saw the birth of its first energy recovery plant and, years later, the first station to selectively treat collected biowaste.
The result of the work done in the last twenty-five years is remarkable: a yearly production of electrical energy equivalent to 2% of the domestic household consumption using only waste as raw material, a production of more than 600 ton of compost for agriculture, 74,000 ton of materials sent for recycling, and the achievement of all environmental goals with less cost
to the citizens.
The priority continues to be improving the public waste management
service provided by the company to municipalities and citizens, having been the first company to be recognised by the regulatory body with the award of the “ERSAR Excellence Award” for the quality of municipal waste management services, in 2018.
The territory served by Valorsul covers a very diverse geographical area, with 19 municipalities, where 1.6 million people live. Each year, it receives and treats almost one million ton of waste, recovering 20% of all domestic waste produced in Portugal.
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