The industrial complex for the treatment of liquid waste generated by ships in the Port of Las Palmas has completed a decisive administrative step to consolidate its operation. The General Directorate of Environmental Quality of the Government of the Canary Islands has issued a non-substantial modification of the Integrated Environmental Authorization (AAI) for the plant operated by Sertego Servicios Medioambientales, S.L.U. The resolution, processed under the general registry of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, adapts the facility to the Consolidated Text of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Pollution (TRLPCIC), falling under the categories of recycling of hazardous waste with capacities exceeding 10 tons per day and temporary storage exceeding 50 metric tons. The technical adjustment validates the reclassification of certain waste streams as ‘Non-Hazardous’, determining their admissibility for landfill in accordance with the guidelines of Royal Decree 646/2020 and Regulation (EU) 2017/997 of the Council regarding ecotoxicological hazardousness HP 14. This review aligns the operational processes of the terminal with the requirements of Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, forcing the environmental subsidiary to update its financial guarantees and liability insurance policies to cover ecological repair costs before the Canary Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment. Process infrastructure and storage balances The Sertego plant occupies a strategic plot of 9,980 square meters in area IV-A of the Gran Canaria port facility, operating continuously 24 hours a day throughout the year. The inventory of storage assets is distributed in leak-proof containment bunds that house high-tonnage tanks. Among them are three units of 1,500 cubic meters dedicated to the management of MARPOL I waste and recovered fuel, along with three heated 500 cubic meter tanks for the initial reception of mixtures of water and hydrocarbons. The logistics operation processes an estimated capacity of 105,767 cubic meters of MARPOL I waste (oily mixtures from bilge and tank cleaning) and 15,000 cubic meters of MARPOL IV waste (dirty water from ships) annually. From these incoming flows, the plant generates a marketable volume of 21,918 tons annually of recovered fuel, returning 86,956 cubic meters of purified water to the water cycle originating from the treatment of MARPOL I and another 14,250 cubic meters derived from the MARPOL IV process. The industrial remainder generates byproducts equivalent to 745 tons annually of fuel sludge and 750 tons of dehydrated sludges. Consumption of auxiliary resources and environmental safeguards The financial viability of the emulsion breaking process requires intensive use of chemical reagents and energy vectors. The balance of auxiliary materials estimates an annual consumption of 60 cubic meters of sodium hydroxide, 30 cubic meters of aluminum chloride, and 40 cubic meters of demulsifiers, essential for the lamellar decantation phases and mechanical centrifugation at controlled temperatures of up to 72 degrees Celsius. The electrical supply required to sustain pumping equipment, disc filtration, and biological reactors with active sludges is set at a maximum ceiling of 958,180 kWh per year, complemented by systems of boilers and thermal oxidizers powered by propane gas through two underground tanks of 45.5 cubic meters. The conditions of the AAI impose the necessity of a passive leak control system structured by a double impermeable barrier, designed to neutralize direct leakages to the subsoil in loading and unloading areas of tankers. The requirements mandate the automatic monitoring of double-walled storage tanks and the physical isolation of incompatible substances, ensuring the complete containment of the tank with the highest volume in case of structural failure or accidental spillage.
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