Environment endorses the solid bulk terminal of the Port of Arinaga

The General Directorate of the Natural Environment of the Government of the Canary Islands has formulated the Environmental Impact Report for the “Technical project for a solid bulk and non-hazardous waste terminal at the Port of Arinaga,” promoted by MID Atlantic Bulk Terminal, S.L. in the municipality of Agüimes, island of Gran Canaria. The resolution, signed on June 8, 2026, by the general director Miguel Ángel Morcuende Hurtado, is published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) no. 201, of October 7, 2026, and concludes that the project will not have significant effects on the environment. The processed file is 27/2023-1129150859.

The ruling closes a simplified environmental impact assessment initiated on September 6, 2023, when the promoter submitted the application to the Waste Service of the then General Directorate of Ecological Transition and Fight against Climate Change, now the General Directorate of Environmental Quality. Article 7.2.a) of Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment, is applicable to the project, as it is included in Annex II, Group 9, sections b) and d), relating to waste recovery facilities and scrap storage.

The resolution is issued by delegation, in accordance with the Resolution of May 26, 2025 (BOC no. 118, of June 17, 2025), and is based on Decree 1/2026, of January 26, and Decree 84/2026, of May 4, regarding the adaptation of designations of certain general directorates.

A temporary ferrous scrap warehouse in the existing building

The objective of the project is to enable a specific area for the temporary storage of non-hazardous waste within the facility already operating in Functional Area no. 18 of the Service Zone of the Port of Arinaga. The action is limited to the waste identified with the code EWC 19 12 02, corresponding to ferrous metals resulting from the mechanical treatment of waste, such as those resulting from the fragmentation of end-of-life vehicles.

The area will be located under cover, inside the existing warehouse, delimited by panels and specific signage. The waste will be unloaded from the vessel using a Multidocker type octopus crane, transferred inside with a Liebherr crane, and loaded onto trucks bound for an authorized manager on the same day, without treatment or prolonged storage.

The infrastructures already present on the plot are:

• An office, locker room, and maintenance building of 72.07 m².
• A control building of 23.49 m².
• A storage warehouse of 647.5 m², which will house the enabled area.
• A truck scale of 16 x 3 meters, with capacity for vehicles up to 60 tons.

The analysis of alternatives ruled out taking no action and installations on rural land or in open-air industrial plots, and selected Alternative 3: the enclosed industrial warehouse within the port area.

Four reports and no specific objections

The consultation process under Article 46 of Law 21/2013 was opened on January 9, 2024, to public administrations and interested parties, including Puertos del Estado, the Port Authority of Las Palmas, the Agüimes City Council, the Santa Lucía de Tirajana City Council, the Island Council of Gran Canaria, the Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción Federation, and SEO Birdlife. Four reports were received and no specific objections were made:

• Directorate General for the Coast and the Sea of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (June 3, 2024): requires avoiding runoff or discharges into the sea and, should there be works in the marine environment, a compatibility report with the Marine Strategy for the Canary Demarcation.
• Directorate General of Public Health of the Regional Ministry of Health (February 21, 2024): does not perceive a major risk of exposure to pollutants, but requests an assessment of the cumulative effect with other projects, as there is a population center within 1,000 meters.
• Waste Service (February 16, 2024): reminds of the prior authorizations required by Article 33 of Law 7/2022 and the prior notification as a waste producer.
• Environmental Service of the Gran Canaria Island Council (March 12, 2024): warns of the proximity of protected areas and proposes amber spectrum lighting, hybrid machinery, partial enclosure of the site, and discharge control.

Environmental conditions and four-year validity

The report considers that the impacts are of low magnitude, local scope, and mostly temporary or reversible in nature, and rules out significant effects on the landscape, cultural heritage, and water bodies. The project is located 13.5 meters south of the Special Area of Conservation No. 34-GC “Playa del Cabrón”, 412 meters from Priority Area No. 46 and Important Bird Area No. 351 “Costa de Arinaga-Castillo del Romeral”, 534 meters from habitat of community interest 1420, and 1,986 meters from the “C-18. Arinaga” Natural Monument.

The municipality of Agüimes has 33,179 inhabitants (2024) and the nearest center, Playa de Arinaga, has 10,743 inhabitants (2024), approximately 710 meters from the site. The Annex of the resolution includes additional measures on the management of construction and demolition waste, waterproofing, drainage with a hydrocarbon separator, control of diffuse emissions, and a construction schedule that avoids noisy work at night and at dawn.

The Environmental Impact Report will expire if the project is not authorized within a maximum period of four years from its publication. The resolution will be notified to the Waste Service of the General Directorate of Environmental Quality, the promoter, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, and the City Council of Agüimes, and shall not be subject to any administrative appeal, without prejudice to those that may proceed against the act of project authorization.

The decision clears the environmental procedure for a facility that will operate alongside other industrial activities in the port, such as the metal recovery plant of Ecoinsular, S.L., the logistics facility of Yesos Canarias, S.A., and the bitumen plant of Asfaltos de Arinaga, S.A. For the port sector, the residents of Playa de Arinaga, and the environmental collectives of Gran Canaria, the report establishes the control conditions for dust, noise, and spills, but leaves the substantive authorization of the activity in the hands of the General Directorate of Environmental Quality.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 201, of October 7, 2026, III. Other Resolutions, page 36336 (official reference: no. 3469).