Alonso Miguel highlights refurbishment and modernisation of Graciosa Waste Processing Centre after fire

June 8, 2026

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action, Alonso Miguel, visited the Waste Processing Centre (CPR) on the island of Graciosa on World Environment Day.

According to the Regional Secretary, this facility is “essential in terms of waste management, environmental quality, hygiene and public health.” However, “it unfortunately suffered considerable damage following a major fire on October 9, 2025, which destroyed the sorting Scarcity and all the equipment within it, while also affecting the composting plant.”

Alonso Miguel took the opportunity to acknowledge and “commend the responsiveness and proactivity of the concessionaire – Equiambi, LDA – and its staff, who were instrumental in finding solutions to maintain operations and prevent any interruption to waste reception at the CPR.”

Alonso Miguel emphasised that “the prompt intervention of the concessionaire ensured, from the very first moments after the fire broke out, the resumption of waste reception at the Graciosa CPR, without any significant impact on the provision of public services and without causing any harm to the population.”

“Following the incident, in an unexpected and challenging situation, the company responded immediately with a series of essential measures to ensure the system’s operational continuity, notably by reorganising waste reception and processing areas, mobilising material and human resources to the CPR, and outsourcing specialist services for the dismantling and removal of the affected structures,” he said.

Alonso Miguel added that, “now that the expert assessment and insurance claim procedures have been completed, masonry work is already underway.” In this regard, he noted that “most of the materials required for the construction of the new plant, namely roofing and support pillars, are already on the island, with assembly expected to begin next week.”

The Regional Secretary revealed that the construction of the new infrastructure is expected to be completed by the end of August, when the new sorting lines purchased by the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action will also be installed.

The government official also noted that “the Regional Government of the Azores has been making a very significant investment in the refurbishment, modernisation and outfitting of regional Waste Processing Centres, an investment that now amounts to around €10 million.”

Alonso Miguel pointed out that “the procedures for restructuring the Waste processing Centres were completed in 2023 to implement the composting process for the separate collection of organic waste, which included the purchase of industrial equipment for processing bio-waste, representing an investment of over €6 million.” He added that “in February 2025, well before the fire occurred, a tender was launched for the modernisation of recycling processes, involving the installation of new sorting lines, representing an overall investment of over €3 million.”

In the specific case of Graciosa Island, the Regional Secretary stated that “investment in the construction of the composting plant and the purchase of the aforementioned industrial equipment amounted to €1 million, whilst the purchase and installation of the new waste reception and sorting line represents an investment of over €800,000.”

Alonso Miguel therefore emphasised that “the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action has already invested over €1.8 million in the refurbishment, modernisation and outfitting of the Waste Processing Centre on the island of Graciosa, over a period of just three years.”

He concluded: “The aim is for the entire refurbishment and modernisation process of the infrastructure to be completed by the end of August, ensuring that the Graciosa Island Waste Processing Centre has more modern facilities and a significantly greater operational capacity for waste management.”