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Date Published: 24/11/2021

ARCHIVED - Blaze forces closure of green waste landfill in Javea

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Ecologists in the Marina Alta town are calling for better management of waste to prevent fires

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Blaze forces closure of green waste landfill in Javea

A fire has forced the closure of the Ramblars green waste landfill in Javea, the second blaze at the site in five years, prompting calls for better waste management to prevent fires.

Despite heavy and persistent rain, a fire broke out at the landfill next to the Gorgos River at around 4am on Sunday morning, November 21, with thick black smoke engulfing nearby residential areas.

Firefighters battled the blaze for two hours before having to retire due to the rain, returning around midday, with the mountain of organic waste continuing to smoulder days later.

It's not yet clear what caused the fire, but early indications suggest it was "intentional" or was sparked by carelessly discarded embers from a barbecue or fireplace.

According to Ecologistes en Acció (Ecologists in Action) Marina Alta, these type of fires can burn for several days, even weeks, due to the "large amount of combustible material", and point out that "the most that can be done is to perimeter them and prevent the flames from igniting nearby forest masses".

And the environmental group has criticised the council for not doing more to prevent blazes, reminding that a fire at the landfill in October 2016 took almost a month to put out.

"Efficient management should take into account possible problems and seek solutions so that these things don't happen. Waste should be recycled and used as reusable organic material, this together with the dumping of toilet wipes into the sea reveals the worrying state of waste management in Javea," said the group's spokesman, Ferran Polo, adding: "With good waste management this fire could have been avoided, it has happened on other occasions and if nothing is done it will happen again".

Similar fires have broken out at waste composting plants in Benissa and Denia, which also took weeks to put out.

Image: Consorcio Bomberos Alicante

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