The BRAVAL is a company carrying out the recovery and treatment of solid waste in the Lower Cávado.

On August 6, 1996, by Decree-Law No. 117/96, a multi-municipal system for sorting, selective collection, recovery and treatment of urban solid waste from Baixo Cávado was created, integrating, as original users, the municipalities of Braga, Póvoa de Lanhoso and Vieira do Minho.

The company Braval – Valorização e Treatment de Resíduos Sólidos, SA , was also incorporated based on the aforementioned decree-law, and the concession contract was signed on 9 October 1996.

In 1999, Decree-Law No. 471/99, of 6 November, allowed the extension of this system to the municipalities of Amares, Vila Verde and Terras de Bouro, extinguishing the multi-municipal system for sorting, recovering and treating urban solid waste of the Cávado-Man.

Thus, Braval currently receives waste from the 6 municipalities mentioned: Braga, Póvoa de Lanhoso, Vieira do Minho, Amares, Vila Verde and Terras de Bouro.

The Braval system covers a total area of ​​1,121 km ² and a population of 290,387 inhabitants, which produces approximately 112 thousand tons/year of solid urban waste.

The construction of the landfill, officially inaugurated on August 14, 1998, allowed the closure of 11 open dumps in these 6 municipalities and the subsequent environmental recovery and landscape integration of these spaces, improving the quality of life of the population. affected.

In 2016, the entry into operation of the Organic Recovery Center, with Mechanical Treatment, revolutionized the treatment of waste. It allows the recovery of 30,000 tons of the organic fraction of unsorted waste, 10,000 tons of green and brown waste, removing the recyclable fraction and energetically valorizing biogas.

It is a total investment of approximately 22 million euros, supported, in the 1st phase, by the POA, with a funding rate of 69% and, in the 2nd phase, by the POVT, with a funding rate of 85% .