25/06/2026
In the current context of ecological transition and the circular economy, urban solid waste treatment plants are essential infrastructures. These facilities reduce the volume of waste destined for landfills, recover treatable materials and enable the production of alternative fuels.
In recent years, biogas generation and utilization plants, using biogas produced in organic matter digesters, have become increasingly important, whether for energy production or for its treatment and subsequent injection into the natural gas distribution network.
The waste treatment sector has high accident rates compared to other industries, with fire being the greatest threat in terms of economic, social, and reputational impact. A review of claim data from leading companies in the municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment sector confirms that property damage claims, which include fires, represent up to 92% of the total cost of accidents in some cases.
Specific features of the activity regarding the fire risk
- Heterogeneous nature of waste
The composition of the received residue decisively conditions the risk involved. The coexistence of organic fractions, plastic materials, textiles, and elements such as batteries or aerosols generates irregular and difficult-to-characterize combustible loads. This variability can accelerate the development phase of the fire once it has started. - Self-combustion and spontaneous combustion in stockpiles
Waste batteries, especially those with high organic or paper content, can explode as a result of biological degradation and material oxidation. When these piles reach a certain height or level of compaction, the heat can become confined and is more prone to deep combustion, typically of late onset and with little superficial manifestation in the initial phases. This phenomenon is responsible for numerous fires that are detected in an advanced state.
The presence of improper waste in selective collection can cause ignition, such as lithium-ion batteries or pressurized gas bottles. - Generation of combustible dust and risk of deflation
Crushing operations, screening, and mechanical handling operations produce significant amounts of fine dust, capable of behaving as a highly reactive fuel. In the presence of a source of ignition, these particles can cause rapid fires or small local deflations. - Machinery as an ignition vector
The equipment used in this activity —crushers, presses, conveyor belts, and mobile machinery— constitutes one of the main sources of ignition. Overheating, electrical failures due to accumulation of dust, vibration or friction, and impacting hard materials present in the waste are the main reasons for these types of explosions.The combination of hot components, combustible materials, and continuous processes turns machinery into a risk factor. - Conditions that limit the provision of fire protection systems (FPS)
Dusty environments and the accumulation of dirt typical of the activity pose a challenge for fire protection systems, which can even become disabled within short periods after installation.
FPS reference frameworks in Spain
The regulations in place aim to ensure the safety of people (occupants of facilities and firefighters who respond to an intervention) and limit damage to third parties. The regulations are not designed specifically to protect assets or facilitate business continuity.
In Spain, setting down FPS measures in waste treatment plants, as well as other industrial activities, falls under the Fire Safety in Industrial Establishments Regulation, known by its Spanish acronym, RSCIEI.
The RSCIEI is based on a common methodology for all industrial activity. It doesn’t adopt solutions for each type of activity taking its processes and loss experience history into account. Applying the regulations to urban solid waste treatment plants has led to disparate solutions and the RSCIEI doesn’t appear to serve as an adequate vehicle for standardizing FPS strategies in this type of plant.
Adoption of FPS measures prescribed by the RSCIEI doesn’t in itself guarantee effective protection – the right equipment for the particular conditions of waste treatment plants must be considered. Otherwise, there is a false perception of security due to the implementation of systems that cease to be operational in such environments within short periods after installation or that don’t work properly.
Maintenance of FPS installations is regulated by the Fire Protection Facilities regulation, known in SPain by its acronym RIPCI. This regulation establishes a minimum frequency of inspections and tests, generally for all types of buildings and facilities, without differentiating by the degree of severity of their environments.
Recently, CEPREVEN (a non-profit association created to promote the exchange of information and experiences with organizations in the prevention and protection of risks), has coordinated a working group made up of different professionals that has produced FPS guides for urban waste treatment plants. These guidelines recommend measures beyond the prescription of the RSCIEI, based on knowledge of its specific risks. These guides include new technologies such as thermographic cameras adapted for fire detection, more robust in aggressive environments, or new conveyor sectorization systems.
Mapfre Global Risks Engineering and waste treatment plants
Mapfre Global Risks insures some of the most important business groups engaged in this activity in Spain. The engineering team advises on improving risk management, with special emphasis on FPS.
We have found that new plants have improved in terms of the provision of FPS equipment and systems compared to the old ones, although ineffective equipment and systems continue to be installed. Maintenance practices still have a lot of room for improvement. The RIPCI periodicities don’t guarantee operability of the systems, so it’s advisable to increase the frequency and content of the inspections and tests.
Initiatives like those of CEPREVEN are regarded as very positive. However, since the sector is governed by public concession contracts, it will only have an impact if the works documents include these guidelines. FPS improvements won’t come about unless the public administrations think of improvements in this area as an investment and not just a cost.
In the coming years, it’s expected that new biogas plant construction will grow. This type of facility resembles a chemical plant more than an industrial establishment in a built environment, which is the focus of the RSCIEI. This regulation does not seem to be a sufficiently effective tool to define FPS strategies where the risk of explosion is also particularly relevant.
We will address this new risk by advising our clients beyond regulatory compliance, in line with our experience, and we will be on the lookout for possible initiatives like that of CEPREVEN.
Authors:
Marta Padilla
Underwriter in the Damages Area of Mapfre Global Risks
Javier Unanua
Risk Engineer in the Engineering Area of Mapfre Global Risks
