Only 7 of the 60 waste dumps in Part Forana are legal and have the relevant environmental authorisation, the other, 53 are still waiting for approval but will not be sanctioned.
"We consider that they are a public service and the damage of closing them would be very high", said the Director Feneral of Waste and Environmental Education, Sebastià Sansó.
In 2018 there were no legal waste dumps in Part Forana and now six municipalities have made significant changes, namely, Mancor, Calvià, Campos, Inca, Sóller and Campanet. But it’s still not enough to comply with both the Balearic Law on Waste and the regulations on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, or WEEE.
The Ministry of the Environment is promoting a campaign to help Local Councils legalise these facilities, which are considered essential. But many are located on a rustic land on the outskirts of the city centre, which is against the regulations.
"These must be on good urban or industrial land, so each city council must either change the location of the waste station or modify the town planning of the locality so that it can be authorised," explains Sebastià Sansó who said his department will provide "legal tools and financial assistance to help the City Councils to legalise their situation".
Sanso recognised that improvements have been made in the last two years but says more needs to be done.
”What we must do is modulate, adapt to the needs of each municipality because each locality has a specific situation.”
The Ministry of the Environment has pledged a total of 580,000 euros between 2019 and 2020 for projects to improve waste management.
The Balearic Waste Law makes it clear that municipalities must collect and transport non-hazardous and hazardous domestic waste generated by residents, shops and services.
Batteries, appliances, paint, oils, halogen or fluorescent lamps, furniture, bulky objects and scrap cannot be dumped in conventional containers.