The Basque Government has awarded FCC Ámbito, subsidiary of FCC Servicio Medio Ambiente, one of the two lots of the contract for the Management of Environmental Incidents and Emergencies and the Waste Generated therein, which involves dealing with incidents likely to have environmental repercussions in the region.  With the renewal of this contract, FCC Ámbito will continue to provide technical assistance to the Basque Government's Department of the Environment and Territorial Policy for another two years, with the possibility of a further two-year extension.

The service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year together with another company from the sector, with FCC Ámbito responding to any request received every other week. The most common notification of incidents is through the 112 - SOS DEIK service (Emergency Response Service of the Basque Country), related to road accidents, fires, accidental and/or illegal spillages, emissions into the air, etc. that may occur anywhere in the region. Once the alert has been received, FCC Ámbito's intervention technicians team travels to the site of the possible incident in the shortest possible time, always less than 2.5 hours, to make a first assessment of the situation and, if necessary, help in the initial containment of the substances involved. Subsequently, if necessary and as part of the contracted service, FCC Ámbito takes charge of the conditioning, removal and correct management of the hazardous and non-hazardous waste that may be generated. Another typical situation is that the incident is dealt with by direct order of the Basque Government Inspection Service, either in industrial ruins or due to complaints from local authorities, among other causes.

The intervention technicians that FCC Ámbito provides for this contract are based at its headquarters in Zierbena (Bizkaia), within the Port of Bilbao, a benchmark facility in the Basque Country in the management of hazardous waste due to its background and knowledge of the sector. It has almost 30 years of experience in waste management and has ISO9001, ISO 14001, OSHAs and EMAS environmental quality and excellence certifications. It is authorised to manage any hazardous waste, except for explosives, infectious biological agents and radioactive waste.

FCC Ámbito is the subsidiary of FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente specialising in the comprehensive management of industrial and commercial waste, recovery of by-products and decontamination of soil. It has a total of 39 treatment centres in Spain and Portugal, with more than 68 processing lines that guarantee the functionality of the facilities.

FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente backbone of the FCC Group's municipal services and integrated waste management company, with more than 120 years of experience, serving more than 66 million people in 5,200 municipalities around the world. The company manages 24.6 million tonnes of waste and produces 6.35 million tonnes of secondary raw materials and refuse-derived fuel. The company boasts over 800 operational waste management facilities, of which nearly 200 are environmental compounds performing waste treatment and recycling, including 15 waste-to-energy projects with a capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per year and 435 MW of non-fossil electricity.