The Regional Council of Baix Penedès has renewed its trust in FCC Medio Ambiente with a new contract for waste collection and recycling centres management services in ten municipalities in the Tarragona region. The contract is worth €67.6 million over the next ten years and will serve 60,500 inhabitants.

The renewed service, which has been expanded since the company was first awarded the management of the Bellvei recycling centre in 2021, will have a workforce of 95 people and a fleet of nearly 50 vehicles, including Zero Emissions units aligned with the commitment of the Baix Penedès Regional Council and FCC Medio Ambiente to sustainability and the fight against climate change. In addition, improvements will be made to the energy efficiency of the facilities and recycling centres with the incorporation of LED lighting, timer taps and solar photovoltaic projectors and panels.

Technological innovation is one of the fundamental pillars of the renewal with the implementation of the VISION integral management digital platform, developed exclusively by FCC Medio Ambiente and which incorporates real-time data management systems on the weight loaded or geopositioning of vehicles, as well as user identification or incident management, in addition to enabling live interaction with requests from residents and the municipal team. It is worth highlighting the implementation of a personalised regional card for accessing and depositing waste at recycling centres.

The new waste collection service, which manages around 32,000 tonnes a year, aims to increase recycling in the region and expects that, once all the services are in place, the percentage of selective waste in containers will exceed 65% and in the door-to-door system will reach 70%, for which the door-to-door system will be implemented in the municipalities of Bonastre, La Bisbal del Penedès, El Vendrell, L'Arboç and Banyeres del Penedès. The tasks of collecting, cleaning and inspecting containers will be reinforced, especially during the tourist season due to the seasonality of the area, as well as the elimination of "black spots" and the collection of abandoned waste. Finally, the container collection system will be unified by means of bilateral top loading in the municipalities of Albinyana, El Montmell, Masllorenç, Bellvei and El Vendrell, with the consequent increase in the efficiency of the service.

In terms of the management of recycling centres, it is worth highlighting the incorporation of a second regional recycling centre in La Bisbal del Penedès and another in Bellvei, 16 covered platforms with removable containers (emerging areas) in El Vendrell, generally for the old town, six container locations to support out-of-hours door-to-door collection (emergency areas), and four mobile recycling centres. As a new feature, and in line with the sustainable approach of the service, the recycling centres will have an area that will operate as a waste reuse and recovery centre with the aim of giving objects a second life.

In order to involve local residents in the care of their city and to raise awareness of how the new collection systems work, information and awareness campaigns will be carried out, focusing on the one hand on a general campaign for the entire population and, on the other, on a campaign adapted to each municipality in a personalised way. In addition, the contract aims to promote the social sustainability of the services and will outsource a special centre for social insertion work to carry out the door-to-door service in El Vendrell.