James Warren
THE construction of a revolutionary rubble recycling plant on Spain’s Costa Tropical has been given the green light after a long and exhaustive administration process.
The plan, named Brick Beach, will involve building a waste management plant that will turn unused waste from construction projects into usable ‘gravel’ which will be used in the rebuilding of a 100 metre stretch of Velez Malaga coastline that has slowly disappeared due to erosion.
Last month, ecologist group GENA presented a 10-page document against the project, outlining numerous concerns relating to the use of government funds, environmental impact and doubts over legalities.
However the regional government of Velez Malaga studied the proposal and deemed the project environmentally sound, and pushed on to the next stage of the process.
Brick Beach was born in 2018, and was chosen as a pilot scheme by the EU under the banner of Urban Innovative Actions.
It received a budget of €5 million to transform the area north of the N-340 above Velez Malaga into the recycling plant and related administrative buildings.
Once announced however, it received instant opposition from eco groups as well as from the PP government.
This, teamed with a long legal journey and the COVID-19 pandemic has set the project back over a year behind schedule.
The news yesterday that the project has been given the green light has now pushed it onto the tender process, a step that the organisers will be eager to start the ball rolling on.
Deadline date for the completion of the plant is June 2021, and with the eyes of the EU firmly on the developers, the clock is ticking to begin building.
