Repsol YPF

With pneumatic collection the rubbish reaches an underground plant, the area used for rubbish containers on the street is freed up and cities have more parking spaces. There are no longer lorries lifting up containers and blocking the traffic in narrow streets. In places where there is pneumatic refuse collection, nights are more peaceful.

Swedish invention
The fact that lorries cannot enter certain pedestrian areas is leading several councils to use pneumatic collection services.

A kind of underground vacuum cleaner is in charge of absorbing the waste and transporting it via pipes from residential areas to a plant a few kilometres away. This was invented over 40 years ago in Sweden and is being used in an increasing amount of Spanish housing estates, old quarters and districts.

This system can be used in towns with an established population, although the cheapest option is to install it in new buildings. You can fix rubbish chutes outside or even incorporate them in each floor of a building.

Basically there are two kinds of pneumatic refuse collection: fixed and mobile. They both work in the same way, the only difference is the final destination of the waste. People place the rubbish bags in a box at any time of day. Then a blast of air sucks the waste into an airtight container, ready to transport it to the treatment place, if it is a fixed system, or they now travel to the treatment centre if the system is mobile. There are different rubbish chutes depending on the type of rubbish: organic material, light containers, paper and cardboard, and commercial waste.

Powerful turbo extractors
Powerful turbo extractors cause the waste to travel at 75 kilometres per hour. The refuse arrives at its destination thanks to the blast of air created. It is left in a container and a lorry transports the classified waste to the recycling or incineration plant. 

Initially the waste is placed in the rubbish hatches or chutes. Some downpipes connect these chutes to the valves situated under buildings or in the street. When the valve is opened, the waste falls through gravity/suction into the air current. Fans carry out the ventilation and provide the compressed air required to activate all of the elements. When it reaches its destination, the rubbish is separated from the transporting, compact air. The transport air is returned to the atmosphere after being filtered so as to remove the dust particles and smells.

Amongst other advantages, urban cleaning experts ensure that the environmental improvement with this system is widespread and may lead to cleaner cities in the future, since, in this way the cost of treating refuse is less, refuse is separated at source –something which encourages its subsequent recycling- apart from the freeing up of land on the street and making it unnecessary to handle the rubbish.

Logically, installing this system has a cost. For family homes, the price can reach 1800 euros. The key to getting the most out of this procedure lies in the correct use of the network required for it to work. If many metres of piping are needed, with the associated foundations, in the case of existing urban areas where there are few properties, the system becomes yet more expensive. 

Pneumatic refuse collection is particularly efficient in large buildings such as airports and hospitals. The facilities in Spain have been built since the 1990s. In any case, it is a commitment to further implementation which is, however, recognised as having high energy costs and no obvious alternatives in the face of breakdown, as well as a high risk of vandalism.