On November 1, 2016, UTE RM2 won the contract to provide waste collection services for the eastern part of Madrid. The contract has been awarded by Madrid City Council for a period of four years, with an option for an additional two years.
UTE RM2 is a consortium made up of Spain’s largest environmental services companies: Valoriza Servicios Medioambiente, Acciona, OHL and Ascan. The new waste collection contract employs 750 people and serves a population of 1,164,212. The service is operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year to collect the 400,000 tons of waste produced by people living in the eastern part of Madrid. The service is provided through three collection shifts: morning, afternoon and night.
To provide an efficient waste collection service, UTE RM2 operates a new fleet of rear and side loading waste collection vehicles of two and three axle configurations. All of the vehicles are powered by compressed natural gas which gives zero emissions, an important factor when working in a city. As part of the new service, UTE RM2 invested in the roll out of the side loading container collection system. The consortium purchased more than 3,000 side loading containers for the new contract in two capacities: 2,400 for the collection of organic waste and recyclable packaging, and 3,200 liter containers for the residual waste fraction. The lids of each container are color coded e.g. brown for organic, yellow for recyclable packaging and orange colored lid with grey container for residual waste. More than 50 percent of the new containers have been adapted for use by disabled people with a foot bar to open the container’s lid.
Waste packaging containers are emptied daily as well as every two days in some parts of Eastern Madrid. The residual waste containers are emptied daily. The introduction of the side loader waste collection system has helped UTE RM2 to redesign the waste collection service, giving more services (different fraction, special maintenance) with the same work force.This has allowed UTE RM2 increase the quality of the service and offer new services to the council. Operatives from the previous service, who emptied the 800 liter four wheeled containers using the former rear loading system, have been redeployed within the department to collect biowaste as well as door to door paper, cardboard and glass recyclables from commercial premises.
GIS/GPS systems have been fitted in the new vehicles which provide geographic information 24 hours a day showing the vehicles position on the waste collection routes. RFID aerials have also been fitted on the new vehicles to read the tags on the side loader. In conclusion, UTE RM2 has made major advances in the development of the waste collection services for Madrid’s central and peripheral zones which meet the city’s requirements for both the present and the future.
For more information, contact Timothy Byrne B.Sc., (Wastes Management), MCIWM, ISWA IWM, at 0044 1384 211001 or 0044 7545 616110 or via e-mail at [email protected].