Zabalgarbi and its environment

Zabalgarbi occupies a plot measuring just over five hectares within the Artigas-Arraiz Special Plan Area in Bilbao. The industrial facilities cover 2.7 hectares, with the rest being taken up by roads and gardens.

Overall, the Artigas-Arraiz Special Plan Area extends over 108 hectares. In addition to the urban waste-to-energy plant, it houses a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant, a composting facility, a landfill, and a leachate treatment plant.

While the plant was being built (video), Zabalgarbi regenerated and restored the entire Artigas-Arraiz Special Plan Area, whose lands had been degraded by past mining operations (shaft) and an open-pit quarry. The area has now been reforested and provided with trails, public parking, and a recreation area with gardens, picnic sites and forest tracks.