The councils maintain the option of transporting Ibiza's waste in bulk

PalmaAlthough the Consell d'Eivissa has renounced sending bulk waste to Mallorca after protests from residents and the GOB, this has not been made official in the agreement. With seven days to go before the transfer begins, the definitive document signed by the Pitiusa institution and the Consell de Mallorca has not been modified, but rather maintains and formalizes the option of transporting part of the waste in bulk. This possibility was introduced after the institution presided over by Llorenç Galmés agreed to lower the environmental requirements for the transfer, due to Ibiza's technical difficulties. Sources from the Consell d'Eivissa justify that, since it is a pilot test, the fine print of the contract can be modified according to the needs of each moment.

This is evident from the final text that this newspaper has been able to verify, which provides a legal basis for the transfer of waste. The collaboration agreement legally safeguards the reduction of the environmental protection standards that the institution's technicians had set initially. Although the agreement establishes that the waste must be transported in bales, it also admits that "temporarily and taking into account the pilot test nature, and while the necessary tests are carried out to evaluate the technical viability of baling, the rejected fraction from biological treatment may be transported in bulk".

The transfer of waste from Ibiza to Mallorca begins next July 16th. The first shipment will consist of seven trucks with 24 tons of waste each. In this way, a total of approximately 3,000 tons will be transferred each month. Precisely the need to start the transport soon is what has caused, according to sources from the Consell d'Eivissa, that the text of the agreement has not been modified to formally eliminate any option of sending waste in bulk. The institution had been waiting for weeks for Mallorca to respond and even already had the ship for transport docked at the port. "Making changes would have meant that everything would have to be processed again," these sources assure.

Although an initial report issued by the consultancy BBAsesores recommended the baling of waste in shrink-wrapped bales, after Ibiza assured that it did not have the technical capacity to do so with all the waste, this changed. As advance ARA Balears, the Consell de Mallorca requested clarification from the consultancy, which in January 2026 justified that the baling and shrink-wrapping of the bales that the technical reports of 2025 required for all waste was in reality a "recommendation and not an imposition". On this basis, the Consell was able to modify its original position, include the exception that allows part of the waste to be sent in bulk, and respond to Ibiza. This reduction in the initial environmental criteria is specified in point 22 of the agreement, which refers to the clarification requested from BBAsesores.

The rectification following the protests

Therefore, the option of transferring part of the bulk waste is guaranteed in the pilot test, which may last up to two years. With this legal coverage, the final agreement maintains the controversial clause for which both the GOB and the residents of Son Sardina and La Garriga protested, who have announced that they will take the transfer to court. However, the document establishes that airtight covering systems will be preferred and the viability of the operation will be studied in each case. The Majorcan Minister of Environment, Pedro Bestard (Vox), will be in charge of supervising the first transfer.take the transfer to court. However, the document establishes that airtight covering systems will be preferred and the viability of the operation will be studied in each case. The Majorcan Minister of Environment, Pedro Bestard (Vox), will be in charge of supervising the first transfer.

The maintenance of this point contrasts with the fact that the Consell d'Eivissa issued a press release on July 2nd stating that they have all the necessary means to carry out the packaged transfer and "categorically" denied that waste had to be transferred without being wrapped.

Eivissa: "We have flexibility to change the contract"

Sources from the Consell d'Eivissa confirm that bulk waste will not be sent and explain that, despite this, there is room to modify the contract. "It is a pilot plan: the contract has a duration of three months, which can be extended up to two years, but always in three-month increments," these sources explain: "We have flexibility to change the contract and adapt it to the changes requested by the pilot plan itself".

The same sources explain that, as they do not have the technical capacity to package all the waste, the bulk waste part will not be sent to Mallorca, but for the moment it will remain at the Ca na Putxa landfill, which is about to end its useful life.