INVAP designed and built a facility for the treatment and final disposal of hazardous industrial waste in Zárate in the Province of Buenos Aires. This plant was built to offer waste treatment services to third parties, in response to the great demand stemming from the numerous industries operating in the area.

INVAP was subcontracted to build the plant by the company AILINCO S.A., a joint venture of INVAP itself (as major stockholder), the Danish company KOMMUNEKEMI A/S and IFU (the Danish Fund for the Industrialization of Developing Countries). In December 1999 AILINCO was purchased by HERA (Habitat Ecología Restauración Ambiental) Group Holding.

The AILINCO plant was designed to deal with hazardous industrial waste as defined in Annex I, Law 11,720 of the Province of Buenos Aires. Waste processed at the plant does not include household garbage, hospital refuse, explosives, or radioactive waste.

In the early 1990´s INVAP conducted a series of market studies among the scores of industries in the area. It was found that companies regarded dealing with and disposing of waste as an upcoming problem especially in view of new regulations coming into force by way of Law 24,051.

Next, assessments were carried out by international consulting companies at the request of the Environmental Authority of the Province of Buenos Aires. The resulting information was then convined with data obtained during the market studies and a feasibility study was conducted. In 1994 and 1995 a site for the new plant was selected and the most adequate technology for the installation was determined. At this time also, a study of the Environmental Impact of the new facility was conducted.

The plant was designed following data resulting from these studies and in accordance with the regulatory requirements established by environmental laws, in particular Federal Law 24,051 and its bylaws 831/93 concerning hazardous waste; and Provincial Law 11,720 and Decree 806/97 concerning special waste. The new plant was designed following also international norms based on the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America.

The site for the new plant was selected with several criteria in mind, such as the geological and hydro-geological nature of the area, the weather and the climate. After close examination of the site, it was concluded that indeed it met with the most stringent international norms for this sort of construction, such as those established by UN - OECD and the World Bank.

Furthermore, before carrying out the feasibility study, INVAP signed an agreement of cooperation with CHEMCONTROL, a well known Danish consulting company vastly experienced in dealing with waste in the European Union.

In 1996 and 1997 INVAP and CHEMCONTROL worked on the development of the engineering. CHEMCONTROL developed the basic engineering of the process while INVAP developed the process of stabilization, landfill safety, basic mechanical engineering, electric, instrumentation and all the auxiliary systems.

INVAP was also in charge of all the detail engineering, the civil works, the electromechanical assembly, start-up and plant operation.

The facility was conceived and designed with the capacity to treat and dispose of just over 10% of the overall market demand.

The plant went into full operation in February 1998.