A consortium headed by FCC Ámbito, the FCC subsidiary specialised in processing and managing industrial waste, has won the tender held by I.A.S., Industria Acqua Siracusana, to condition, collect, transport and process 257,000 tonnes of sludge classified as hazardous waste in eastern Sicily (Italy). The contract is worth 60 million euro.

The maximum period for provision of the service is 700 days. The sludge, which is the result of sedimentation of industrial waste water over a period of years, is currently confined in two impermeable ponds, from which it must be extracted, conditioned, loaded and transported to port for shipping to recovery and recycling plants.

FCC Ámbito is acting as project leader because of its experience and track record in similar jobs, including notably the recent decontamination of the pond at Flix (Tarragona, Spain), involving over 1 million tonnes of waste, in a project worth 155 million euro; the dismantling and decontamination of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy; and the cleaning and decontamination of the national steel mill in Maia (Portugal), involving over 35,000 tonnes of waste.

In 2008, FCC Ámbito's revenues expanded by 53%, largely as a result of international growth, especially in the US, and to opening an integrated waste management plant in Portugal. The company now has 98 operational facilities, 40 of which are outside Spain.

In 2008, the company processed 2,560,000 tonnes of waste in Spain, 8% more than in 2007. In the US, FCC Ámbito, S.A. recycled 60.3 million gallons of spent oil for use as alternative fuel.

Early in 2008, it acquired 100% of US companies Hydrocarbon Recovery Services and International Petroleum Corporation, which specialise in collecting and processing oils and hydrocarbon residues; the two companies now operate under the FCC Environmental brand. This acquisition positioned FCC as the leading hydrocarbon waste manager in the centre and east coast of the United States, and as the second-largest in the country as a whole.