A report on the state of the municipal waste sector outlines the major challenges our sector will face in the coming years
With a turnover of over 13 billion euro and more than 95,000 employees, waste management service is, along with other essential services of economic importance, a sectors that can positively impact the recovery of the national economy.
This is made clear in the Green Book 2020, published by the Utilitatis Foundation. This report on the state of the urban waste sector in Italy (its supply chain, its turnover, and its needs) is promoted by Utilitalia, the federation of Italian water, energy, and environment companies. Now in its 8th edition, the Green Book offers an overview of the regulatory, organizational and economic aspects of the urban waste management cycle in Italy, with a look toward the international context as well.
In Italy, the recycling rate is above the European average
According to the data in the report (updated through 2018), Italy has a recycling rate for urban waste between 45.2% and 50.8%, above the European average of 47%, while the transfer to landfills is at 22%. The production of urban and connected waste came in at about 30 million tons a year, while special waste reached 130 million tons.
In the last year, despite difficulties caused by the lockdown, waste management service continued to guarantee cleaning and public health. The report, however, describes a sector that, “although embarking toward a series of structural reforms, must still contend with several difficulties, especially when it comes to completing local governance processes, overcoming management fragmentation, and making investments to meet plant requirements, to be achieved through faster authorization procedures and the social acceptability of plants.”
The goals of the Circular Economy
On one hand, waste management is a central part of European policies dedicated to protecting the environment and to resource circularity. From this point of view, the two most important challenges for the sector are: reducing the production of waste, and aligning management goals with the principles of the Circular Economy.
Alongside these challenges, there are the goals for recycling urban waste, set for 55% by 2025, 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035, the limit of 10% of waste sent to landfills by 2035, the strengthening of extended producer responsibility (EPR) systems, and the definition of urban waste – previously absent in EU legislation – which allows for a more equitable comparison of quantitative data collected by the various member states.
8 billion euro of investments to overcome the challenge
To achieve the ambitious goals set by these directives, we will need to update national strategies, in both local service planning and organization, and to commit to increasing management efficiency to comply with the new goals for recycling and reduced landfill use.
Utilitalia forecasts the investment requirement at approximately 8 billion euro, which will be needed to build plants and increase the quality and quantity of recycled materials, to achieve the new recycling goals set out in EU and national legislation.
The challenge awaiting us in the coming years will be demanding. We are ready to offer our contribution to achieve a fully circular economy through waste management that increasingly favors recycling and energy recovery to minimize the use of landfills.
With the right investments in modern and sustainable plants and increasingly efficient recovery cycles, we can contribute to improved quality of life for everyone.
