The two recent TSJC rulings, which endorse the updated ZBE ordinance, show how entities such as the Gremi de Tallers de Barcelona (Barcelona Workshop Guild) and the Plataforma d’Afectats per les Restriccions Circulatòries (Platform for those Affected by Traffic Restrictions) use pollution from the Tersa incinerator as a key argument. This plant, located in Sant Adrià de Besòs, burns over 300,000 tons of waste annually and is under criminal investigation for an alleged environmental crime.
The appellants argue that the investigation into Tersa, a company majority-owned by the Barcelona City Council, casts doubt on the air quality measurements used to justify the ZBE. The Gremi de Tallers insisted that the inquiries are based on the use of a supposedly non-homologated algorithm to measure cremation temperatures, which might not be providing real results to the Administration.
The judge, for his part, states that appealing to the Tersa case is not a solid enough argument to invalidate and question Barcelona's ZBE.
The TSJC magistrates rejected this reasoning, arguing that the Tersa issue “does not correspond to be addressed here” and that it “also exceeds the territorial jurisdiction of the Barcelona council,” since the plant is located in Sant Adrià de Besòs. Nevertheless, the company Tersa continues to defend that its plant has complied with emission limit values at all times.
