Total amount of MSW generated is 18,000 tonnes/year of which 12,000 tonnes is generated during the summer months from May 15 to September 15 alone. By the end of 1999 the old Porto Vecchio landfill had reached its legal saturation and a new landfill was opened some 60 km from Porto Vecchio.
However, due to the quality of the roads and the very heavy traffic, it was not feasible to transport waste from the town to the new landfill during the summer months. Hence the summer waste has to be stored awaiting transport until the tourists have left the island.
Furthermore, and to avoid investing in customized trucks, baling is carried out during the whole year and the waste can thus be transported as bales by conventional trucks.
Awaiting the construction of a new WtE capacity on the island the objective is now to "export" the waste to existing WtE plants on the main land.