Environmental Quality exempts Talavera waste plant from ordinary evaluation

The General Directorate of Environmental Quality has formulated the environmental impact report for the non-hazardous waste management plant project promoted by Recuperaciones Ruiz Olmedo, SL in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), which will not have to undergo an ordinary environmental impact assessment. The resolution, signed on October 2, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha no. 197, of October 14, 2026, under reference 2026/7262.

Case file S478/2025/DG/00066 is being processed via the simplified procedure provided for in Article 6.2 of Law 2/2020, of February 7, on Environmental Assessment of Castilla-La Mancha, which requires the environmental body to decide in a reasoned and public manner whether the project may cause significant effects on the environment. The activity falls under Annex II of Law 21/2013, of December 9, updated by Royal Decree 445/2023, of June 13, in group 9.b) regarding waste disposal or recovery facilities not included in Annex I.

The promoter submitted the application and the environmental document on June 11, 2025, to the General Directorate of Circular Economy and Agenda 2030, which on October 23, 2025, transferred the file to the General Directorate of Environmental Quality as the environmental body. The documentation was declared complete on December 30, 2025, and twelve organizations and institutions were consulted, including the Tagus Hydrographic Confederation, the City Council of Talavera de la Reina, the Castilla-La Mancha Water Agency, and several environmental associations. Only two entities responded: the Culture Service of Toledo and the Provincial Coordination Unit of Environmental Agents of Toledo.

An industrial warehouse in La Floresta to classify metals and WEEE

The activity will take place inside an existing warehouse in the La Floresta Industrial Estate, on Federica Montseny Street, number 2, on the plot with cadastral reference 2251127UK4225S0001HQ. No new construction is planned: the property has 679 m² built, 7.90 meters of clear height under pillars, and a declared useful area of 647.04 m².

The functional layout of the facility is as follows:

• Exterior access area: 40.09 m².
• Work area: 381.45 m², with a storage capacity of approximately 150 m³.
• Office: 12.57 m².
• Toilet: 3.44 m².
• Changing room: 3.96 m².
• Courtyard: 215.53 m², with approximately 100 m³ for scrap, iron, and steel.

The plant will recover ferrous and non-ferrous metallic waste—aluminum, iron and steel, copper, brass, bronze, lead, zinc, cables, and mixed metals—through sorting, with a capacity of 3,585 tons per year, and will store and transfer non-hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) up to 150 tons annually. The total management capacity amounts to 3,735 tons per year, and the process does not include physicochemical treatments.

Three years of processing and prior decommissioning

The inspection by the Environmental Agents on January 28, 2026, detected that the facility was “initiated-working,” which triggered Article 8.1 of Law 2/2020: projects already executed without having previously gone through the procedure are not evaluated. On May 28, 2026, the promoter was notified of the situation and required to prove that the works had begun before December 7, 2018; otherwise, the facility had to be decommissioned.

The promoter opted for decommissioning and the removal of waste, and on September 2, 2026, provided graphic documentation of these actions. Once the cessation was verified, the processing continued until the resolution now published.

Environmental constraints and monitoring

The report considers the project compatible with the preservation of natural resources, protected areas, the public hydraulic domain, the population, and human health, provided that the measures of the environmental document and the constraints of the resolution are met. Among them:

• Waterproof and confine areas susceptible to contaminating the soil and water.
• Submit a preliminary soil status report to the General Directorate of Environmental Quality, within a maximum period of two years from the start of the activity, in accordance with Royal Decree 9/2005.
• Comply with Royal Decree 110/2015 regarding WEEE management and the regulations for the storage of hazardous waste.
• Cover waste transport with tarpaulins and avoid dust emissions.
• Not exceed the acoustic limits of Royal Decree 1367/2007.
• Present a budgeted closure plan and execute the dismantling within one year from the end of the activity.

Monitoring is the responsibility of the substantive body. The promoter must submit reports between January 1 and March 31 of the year following each campaign, during the first three years of operation, and notify the start date ten days in advance.

Validity and next steps

The report will lose its validity if the project has not been authorized and its execution started within four years, a period extendable by two more years. The authorization as a waste manager, requested from the General Directorate of Circular Economy and Agenda 2030, remains pending and is a prerequisite for the start of operations.

The resolution clears the environmental procedure for a facility intended to strengthen metal recovery in the Talavera region, but it arrives after the plant operated without a prior assessment and had to be dismantled. The file is now in the hands of the sectoral waste authorization and the municipal activity license, the two steps that will determine when it can reopen.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, no. 197, of October 14, 2026, III.- Other Provisions and Acts, pages 36536-36543 (official reference: 2026/7262).