Cimpor removes involvement in the creation of incinerator in the Algarve

O portuguese cement company group Cimpor denied today any involvement or participation in the process to create a waste incinerator in the Algarve, a region where it has a production unit in the municipality of Loulé.

The position of the company arises after, on Monday, the mayor of Loulé, Telmo Pinto, had asked for clarifications to the Minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, about the project and expressed the “frontal opposition” of the municipality to the installation of a waste burning unit in the municipality, which also has in its territory, in the parish of Salir, the Sanitary Land of Sotavento.

“ With regard to the information recently disclosed about possible solutions for energy recovery of waste in the Algarve region, Cimpor clarifies that it has no involvement or participation in projects for the installation of an incineration plant in the region”, the company has today been positioned in a statement.

Cimpor assured that “it did not promote or maintain any contacts or diligence with a view to developing such an initiative in the Algarve” and pushed away the scenario of participation, “directly or indirectly, in any project in this direction”.

On Monday, the House of Loulé informed the Government of its “frontal opposition” to the installation of a waste incinerator in the municipality, rejecting the “successive concentration of equipment with relevant impacts on the same territories, without assessing the cumulative effects, the loading capacity of each municipality and the fair distribution of the charges”.

The Minister of Environment launched the project to create a waste energy recovery unit in the Algarve, which is under study to find location and the most advantageous technical solution, but the House of Loulé wants a meeting with the guardianship and technicians and seeks to avoid the construction of a new incinerator in the municipality or a solution that goes through the co-incineration of waste in the Cimpor Production Center already existing in the municipality.

After the mayor of Loulé rejected the installation of an incinerator in the municipality and requested clarifications to the Minister of the Environment, the local PSD, the main opposition party to the PS executive led by Telmo Pinto, released a statement informing the Minister of the Environment about the project.

Loulé’s PSD pointed out that the minister ensured that “a new infrastructure, built from scratch”, whose location is still under technical evaluation, was concerned and praised the ruler for the work she is doing in this area.

The president of the PSD de Loulé acknowledged that it is necessary to find a solution for the waste produced in the Algarve, because the landfill in the municipality is reaching the limit of its capacity, but considered that “no solution should be imposed without rigour, transparency and respect for the people”.

The party also accused the mayor of “instrumentalizing politically” the issue, disrespecting a population that “deserves respect” and should be informed by the mayor.