(Marco Sperandio) Working in the Green Holding SpA Group and in some subsidiaries, including Ambienthesis SpA, I want to emphasize the treatment of special waste, one of the most important issues in the waste management system.
By these we mean waste resulting from production, commercial and service activities such as construction, industry, agriculture, sewage sludge, waste from incineration, the remains of demolished cars and so on, for a quantity of material four times higher than that of municipal waste.
In fact, around 135 millions of tons are estimated, compared to the 30 million tons of urban waste, of which the non-hazardous waste is 125 million tons (93% of the total), while those dangerous just under 10 million [1].
In this context, the waste from the construction and demolition sector represents 40,6% of the total, followed by those produced by waste treatment and remediation activities (27,2%) and the manufacturing sector (20,7%) [2]. Of these, it is clear, we can only recover one 65%, which becomes energy in the form of inorganic substances.
Unfortunately, there is still a conservative attitude in the area towards the opening of new plants, naturally compliant and environmentally sustainable, when instead there is an increase in the production of hazardous waste (+500.000 tons, equal to + 5,6% of annual basis, while normal waste increases by 1,7% [3]) which requires the provision of their treatment and management.
In fact, an optimization of the recycling system would allow materials to be reintroduced into the production cycles while reducing the use of disposal, in particular that in landfills, all following the European guidelines on the circular economy.
According to the 2018 Report on special waste presented by Ispra, the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Italy is the country on the continent that carries out the most separate waste collection of all. Among the virtues of our country there is certainly its production base for the recycling of all materials, where, in fact, over 50% of urban waste and 65% of special waste is recycled by pursuing the ethical-operational model imposed by the legislation. .
Performance can be further optimized, therefore, by investing in a qualitative-quantitative development of recycling, also through the definition of end-of-waste criteria, for example for construction and demolition waste, and above all by helping and encouraging all those social actors , primarily the companies, which operate in these areas according to the criteria of transparency, impact 0, eco-sustainability and respect for the forms of life that populate the various territories.
With the hope that the trust in institutions, often lacking, will be regained on the territory through paths of participation and public debate that must inevitably involve all the social actors involved in this management system.