The new waste collection and street cleaning service in the city of Granada, which FCC Medio Ambiente took over last December and will provide for the next 15 years, is now operational. The new contract represents a portfolio of €745 million, an investment of €71.7 million in vehicles, fixed installations and container parks, and employs around 850 professionals to serve more than 230,000 inhabitants. 

One of the main objectives is to improve the environmental quality of the city, for which the fleet is being renewed with more than 370 cutting-edge vehicles, of which around 50% are used for waste collection, more than 90% for street cleansing and all of the used for common services are Zero-Emission Electric Units. In addition, flexible equipment is being implemented to adapt to the specific and changing needs of the municipality. In this regard, the importance of efficiency and resource savings is also noteworthy, such as the use of groundwater in all flushing, hydrocleaning and container washing equipment. All of this demonstrates the efforts of Granada City Council and FCC Medio Ambiente to implement services that are more environmentally friendly and in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda. 

Technological innovation is another important pillar of the new contract which, among other new features, will launch a Service Control and Monitoring Centre, a groundbreaking initiative in the sector that represents a significant step forward in service quality excellence, as it allows all users who need information, including the City Council, the company and the public, to have the same point of reference and unified data, all through VISION, a comprehensive digital service management platform developed exclusively by FCC Medio Ambiente. The service will implement Artificial Intelligence tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of resources, such as the implementation of a graffiti authorship analysis tool using images that allows the visual characteristics of graffiti and tagging to be studied and compared in order to identify the perpetrators.

The waste collection service, designed to handle more than 120,000 tonnes per year, is launching an ambitious project with the aim of increasing selectively collected waste from the current 115 kilograms per inhabitant per year to 300 kilograms by 2030. As for street cleaning, which covers nearly 600 kilometres of streets, the frequency of the various treatments is being improved and increased compared to the previous service. 

Social sustainability is also particularly important, and the service will collaborate with Special Employment Centres to manage the collection of various specific types of waste. 

It is essential to take citizens into account and involve them in caring for their city in order to achieve the ambitious objectives of the new service, which is why information promoters will be hired for communication and public awareness campaigns.