Wednesday, 19 November 2025, 10:22
Torrox on the eastern Costa del Sol has announced plans for a “pioneering” agricultural waste treatment plant in the Axarquía. The management of waste has become increasingly difficult for farmers in recent years, due to stricter legal requirements for controlled burning on farms, especially in the summer months, between 1 June and 15 October.
The town hall has said it will carry out a study to assess the viability of the project, which will join the new recycling centre, currently in the final stages of construction and scheduled to open early next year after an investment of close to one million euros.
Mayor of Torrox Óscar Medina said in a statement that this decision has been made “in response to the need to find a solution for the treatment of organic waste generated in parks, gardens, urban and agricultural areas in the municipality”.
Another of the project’s objectives is to “provide financial support to farmers in Torrox, so that they can avoid the costs associated with pruning and plant waste management, procedures that cost farm workers thousands of euros a year,” according to Medina.
The idea is that the pruning waste, once treated, “can be reused by farmers as compost to fertilise fields,” the mayor explained, adding, “We want to reduce or even eliminate the cost of collection and transport for them, which can be as high as 150 euros per tonne of plant waste.” He said, “It is a priority to comply with current waste management regulations to ensure proper protection of the environment.”
Speaking about a solution to plant waste for farmers in October, Fernando Jiménez from the opposition Vox political party said, “Agriculture continues to be one of the driving forces behind our economy and we as an administration have a duty not only to protect it, but also to promote it.”