Engineer Mário Silva has been working at Valorsul for 24 years. In 1999, he left his comfort zone and started working as an operator at Valorsul. Twenty-one years later, in 2020, after completing his academic training with a degree in Electronic Engineering, he joined the maintenance department.
During his 24 years at Valorsul, the engineer has encountered some daily challenges and several comical situations.
Eng. Mário Silva
“A funny situation that has happened a few times is when people mistakenly throw valuable items in the rubbish and then come here looking for them. Although we warn them that it is impossible to find them, people insist on searching. When they are faced with 10-12 thousand tonnes of piled-up rubbish, they realise that they will not be able to find anything.”
– Eng. Mário Silva
The Valorsul
Founded in 1994 with the aim of finding a solution for disposing of thousands of tonnes of urban waste in Greater Lisbon, Valorsul inaugurated the CTRSU (Urban Solid Waste Treatment Centre) in 2000, the ET (Sorting Centre) in 2002 and the ETVO (Organic Treatment and Recovery Station) in 2008.
Today, Valorsul has two sorting centres, one organic treatment and recovery station, one energy recovery plant, one slag treatment and recovery facility, two sanitary landfills, six transfer stations and eight eco-centres.
Valorsul is responsible for the treatment and recovery of municipal solid waste in 19 municipalities in Greater Lisbon and the Western Region. These municipalities account for less than 4% of the country’s total area and more than 1/5 of all domestic waste produced in Portugal. Every day, around 2,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste arrive at Valorsul’s CTRSU unit.
“I often speak to colleagues from other units who say they receive around 15 to 20 cars, at most 50 cars, per day. Here in São João da Talha, we receive 280 cars in just one night!”
– Eng. Mário Silva
Responsible for the collection, treatment and recovery of urban waste, Valorsul produced more than 312 GW of electricity in 2021 and separated 26,000 tonnes of glass, 23,000 tonnes of plastic and metal, and 34,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard.
The energy recovery of CTRSU takes the form of thermoelectric energy production, i.e., the burning of waste that produces high temperatures and, consequently, steam that allows the thermoelectric power plant to operate. The energy produced is sold to the National Electricity Grid.
In addition to energy recovery, Valorsul sells artificial aggregate, which comes from the incineration of MSW (municipal solid waste), and rich soil, which comes from composting.
With regard to recycled products, Valorsul sorts recyclable materials and then sends them to processing companies. Although these processing companies belong to the private sector, they still have to comply with a set of criteria established by Sociedade Ponto Verde.
Building a sustainable future
Valorsul’s activity is directly linked to sustainability and is based on three pillars: respect for the environment, well-being and social justice, and economic prosperity.
Valorsul carries out various environmental awareness and education activities, including visits to operational units, packaging sorting competitions, development of informational materials, and participation in events and thematic awareness campaigns.
“For sustainability, we try to do our job as best as possible! (laughs) We raise awareness about environmental education and recycling in schools and welcome visitors to our facilities, where we show them the entire waste treatment process.”
– Eng. Mário Silva
The importance of weight control for Valorsul
Metal/Concrete Weighbridge installed at Valorsul’s CTRSU
For Valorsul, controlling the weight of urban waste is essential and is carried out using Barcelbal truck weighbridges installed at various units.
Barcelbal has installed five truck weighbridges at Valorsul. The truck weighbridges installed measure 16×3 m and have a capacity of 60 t. Robust and corrosion-resistant, the metal/concrete truck weighbridges were developed to control the weight of 350 to 500 waste transport trucks per day.
The first truck weighbridges to be replaced were those at CTRSU. The removal of the old weighbridges required considerable effort from Barcelbal’s Engineering Department and a great deal of coordination between Barcelbal and Valorsul. The weighbridge scales were over 20 years old, weighed around 60 tonnes each and were mainly made of concrete.
The installation process for the new truck weighbridges was simple and quick. The only difficulty encountered by engineer Mário Silva was the logistical management of the entry and exit of waste trucks, as CTRSU operates 24 hours a day.
“Today I know how it works, how long it takes, and how we should coordinate the flow of vehicles.”
– Eng. Mário Silva
In addition, Barcelbal modernised the two weighbridges at the Mato da Cruz Landfill. As the structure of these weighbridges was still in good condition, it was decided to change the weighing electronics.
In addition to the five truck weighbridges installed and the modernisation of the two weighbridges, Barcelbal provides technical assistance services for Valorsul’s 17 truck weighbridges.
“For me, what sets Barcelbal apart from the competition is its technical support. I’m not just referring to your direct competition, but also in comparison with companies from other sectors that provide services to Valorsul. Will the weighbridge last 20 years? I don’t know, but it has to be working 24 hours a day!”
– Eng. Mário Silva
Before working with Barcelbal, Engineer Mário Silva had a stock of 5/6 cells for replacement in case of failure, but since he started working with Barcelbal, he no longer needs to stock cells, because in case of failure, the Engineer only needs to call Barcelbal.
“I particularly value technical support, because as we never stop working, it is important that any problems are resolved promptly. It is relatively easy to find a supplier for a weighbridge, but it is not so easy to find a supplier that I can call and resolve the problem quickly. I hope you never lose this proactivity in technical support.
I congratulate and thank the Barcelbal team, who have been a reliable partner that Valorsul has been fortunate to find.”
– Eng. Mário Silva
Modernisation of Truck Weighbridges at Valorsul’s ETVO
Weighbridge for lorries installed at the Gaieras ET
Valorsul’s success is our success!
