Ministry concentrates on dealing with toxic waste

THE Balearic ministry of the environment, headed by Jaume Font, is working on several projects which will be developed over the next few months.
One of the most important is the strategy for getting rid of dangerous or toxic waste.
Each of the Balearic islands has had its own master plan for handling ordinary urban rubbish for several years, and Majorca also has a plan for handling rubble from building sites. Now the ministry is working on a plan for managing dangerous waste (oils, scrap metal, chemical products, toners, paint, etc) and details will be announced over the next few weeks. Another major initiative will deal with the treatment of sewage, even though the Balearics is already one of the most advanced regions in this field.
However, the Balearic government wants to bring the standard of the systems used on the islands up to those laid down by the European Union by 2010 although Brussels has set the time limit for this at 2015. While other regions are still installing secondary treatments of sewage, the Balearics are already introducing the tertiary system.
The environment ministry is also providing subsidies to help town councils detect and repair leaks in the water pipes.
Plans for a more efficient management of water resources are also underway, and will eventually link Sa Costera near Soller (where pipelines are being built), the Gorg Blau and Cuber reservoirs and the S'Estremera and Sa Marineta water tables. To this must be added the existing and future desalination plants. There are also plans for a law on noise and acoustic contamination, plans for improvements to the coastline in collaboration with the central environment ministry, and more widespread environmental education.