The pilot plan for the transfer of waste from Ibiza has begun with the left, the GOB and the residents of ground zero against it. For more than ten years, administrations have known that the Ca na Putxa landfill was at the end of its useful life, but no alternative infrastructures have been built and finally the decision has been made for Mallorca to take on this waste. The residents of Son Sardina and La Garriga have protested, because they consider that they will suffer the direct consequences. Therefore, they are joining the anti-massification demonstration on September 26. "Mallorca is at its limit, we are exceeding the red lines" assures Joan Mateos, representative of the La Garriga residents' association.

The ship that was to transport the waste from Ibiza to Mallorca finally arrived at the port of Palma in the early hours of last Wednesday, after incidents that had delayed its departure.

Representatives of 17 neighborhood and environmental organizations from Mallorca have promoted various initiatives against the imminent arrival of waste from the Pitiuses, including the establishment of a platform. As reported by GOB this Monday in a statement, the organizations have expressed their concern about the imminent arrival of this waste, stating that it could cause a risk of accidents and spills, in addition to bad smells and other nuisances.

Mallorca will begin to receive next Thursday seven daily trucks of waste from Ibiza, five days a week, with a total of 3,000 tons of garbage each month. The pilot test for the transfer of waste from the Pitiusa island, which the island councils approved last Tuesday, will cost 24.6 million euros, as stated in the documentation of the file that ARABalears advanced. The agreement has been drawn up over a year, hidden from the opposition –it was not delivered until the Transparency Council requested it–, and it includes a reduction in the environmental criteria initially foreseen.

Pedro Bestard defended himself this Thursday against criticism from the PSIB for the transfer of waste from Ibiza to Mallorca, assuring on repeated occasions that "it is waste, not excrement" and insisting that the pilot test will have no impact on Mallorca. The second vice-president and Minister of Environment of the Consell de Mallorca had a tense confrontation with the socialist deputy Juana María Adrover during the plenary session of the insular institution.

Although 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.

The transfer of waste from Ibiza to Mallorca begins next July 16. As reported by the second vice-president and Minister of Environment of the Consell de Mallorca, Pedro Bestard, 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.

The Consell de Mallorca has not managed to authorize the administrative file to validate the agreement with Eivissa for the transfer of waste between the two islands. This situation formally prevents its signing and puts the start of the new inter-island system for managing the residual fraction on hold, just when the logistical device associated with the project is advanced and with a ship about to arrive in Eivissa, as reported by ARA Balears. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the Ca na Putxa landfill is close to reaching its operational limit.

One week after ARA Balears revealed that the Consell de Mallorca has lowered the environmental requirement for part of the transfer of waste from Ibiza to be carried out in bulk, the institution from Ibiza has rectified. After the residents of Son Sardina and La Garriga protested about how the import would be carried out and the GOB filed a legal challenge, the Consell d'Eivissa now says it will not send any type of waste in bulk. Despite declaring last December that it did not have the technical capacity to carry out all transport with shrink-wrapped bales, it now assures that it has the necessary machinery.

The neighborhoods of Son Sardina and La Garriga are in the zero zone for waste treatment in Mallorca. From the rooftops, the Son Reus incinerator plant is perfectly visible, 3.5 kilometers away in a straight line: they suffer from the smells and the acid clouds that appear in the sky from time to time. This Tuesday they have raised their voices against the plans of the Consell de Mallorca to expand the plant's production with waste coming from Ibiza. "From an environmental point of view, it makes no sense to have waste in Ibiza, put it in a truck, a boat, send it to the port of Palma, and transport it by road to here," protests Joan Mateos, spokesperson for the Sa Garriga Neighborhood Association.

The Consell de Mallorca did not grant opposition access to the agreement for the transfer of waste from Eivissa until it was forced to by a requirement from the Council for Transparency. Although by law it should have delivered the information to the socialist party within five days, which had been requesting it since July 16, 2025, it took almost a year to do so, after receiving a warning from this body.

The Consell d'Eivissa has already tendered and awarded the waste transfer and is awaiting the Consell de Mallorca to definitively sign the agreement. This is confirmed by sources from the island institution to ARA Balears. They explain that the service has been awarded to UTE GIREF, which manages the Ca na Putxa waste plant, in compliance with the additional provision that allows the pilot plan to be initiated, which was definitively approved with the Omnibus Law.

The Consell de Mallorca will accept that part of the transport of the waste sent from Ibiza be carried in bulk. This represents a change from the institution's initial position, which at first had requested that all of it be packed in compact, pressed, and sealed packages, known as shrink-wrapped bales. Sources from the Consell emphasize that despite the change, environmental regulations and the guidelines established by the European Union will be complied with. However, the initial report recommending the baling of waste, which ARA Balears has accessed, warned of the risks of not doing so: they imply possible leaks, bad smells, and decomposition of refuse.

"The import of waste from Ibiza must be stopped". This is how the spokesperson for the PSIB in the Consell Insular de Mallorca, Catalina Cladera, expressed herself this Thursday, after the institution opened the agreement file so that Ibiza can send approximately 97,000 tons of waste per year to Mallorca. As explained by ARA Balears, Mallorca has lowered the environmental requirements to import this waste because Ibiza has argued that it does not have the technical capacity to do so under the initially required conditions.

MÉS per Mallorca has accused Llorenç Galmés's government of "dismantling environmental guarantees" to facilitate the arrival of waste from Ibiza to Mallorca. The eco-sovereignist party maintains that the modification of the conditions initially foreseen for the transfer confirms that the Council is adapting the rules to the project's needs, instead of prioritizing the island's environmental interests.

The Consell de Mallorca has lowered the environmental requirements for importing waste from Ibiza in bulk. The agreement to start the pilot plan for the transfer has not yet been signed, but all documentation is formally approved and ready. In the file, to which ARA Balears has had access, a rectification can be observed in the technical reports on the conditions under which this waste must be transported. If at first it was required that it be done in compact, pressed and sealed packages, known as shrink-wrapped bales, it has finally been accepted that certain fractions of the load are sent to Mallorca in bulk.

In a convulsed global landscape, the feeling of global and also local fragility, Xesca Martí Llodrà(Vilafranca, 1969) opens a window to hope and optimism. She has worked at the Deixalles Foundation since 1997 and has been its director since 2010. A biologist by training, an environmentalist by conviction, and a tireless activist for the social and circular economy, the Vilafranca native leads a benchmark entity in socio-labor insertion and reuse in the Balearic Islands. At a time marked by the climate crisis, inequalities, and the throwaway culture, she advocates for collective work, social commitment, and the need to put people at the center, and no, it's not just a slogan, because she dedicates a large part of her time and efforts to this goal.

On August 12, a law will come into force in Europe prohibiting the use of single-dose sachets for condiments, sauces, and other items in the restaurant industry. This regulation, however, should not have any additional impact on the Balearic Islands because the Archipelago already has its own Waste Law that controls the use of these containers, approved by the previous Pact government. The problem is that this law is not really being applied and not even the restaurateurs themselves know what to do. "There is quite a bit of confusion, we have had to request meetings because we don't even know what to do," explains the manager of CAEB Restauració, Tomeu Mas.

The People's Party (PP) intends to extend the pilot program for transporting manure from Ibiza and Formentera to Palma to 10 years. This was denounced on Wednesday by MÁS per Mallorca, who warned that the proposal was introduced through an amendment to the draft law on accelerating strategic projects, disguising a change in the model as a simple technical modification.