Contribution to disposal

With respect to what we have written, what proposals can we put forward? The main critical issues of the waste management system (i.e. the subjects who collect) are, first of all, the lack of an adequate network of collection and treatment plants, the persistent use of landfill disposal and the unsatisfactory levels of waste differentiation and resource recovery, especially in some areas of the country. In the central-southern areas in particular there is a horizontal fragmentation of the service with managements that do not exceed the municipal territory and vertical fragmentation with few phases connected to treat the waste of a supply chain. The platforms for the further treatment of differentiated waste and anaerobic digesters for urban waste could be much more numerous; in many areas there is often resistance to the placement of compost. We can also add: the creation of new rules and consortia capable of extending the separate collection of particular waste such as bulky waste.

The recognition and valorization of the central role of citizens in waste treatment is very important. Starting from overcoming some real obstacles such as inadequate management of the service (52.4%) and communication and information on the type and method of collection. In particular, it is worth mentioning the difficulties in understanding the composition and destination of packaging materials, multi-layer materials, bioplastics, receipts... There are some obstacles that are not very credible, which look a lot like excuses: the pure request for incentives if you do the collection; the lack of time necessary for differentiation or adequate spaces in homes to manage waste. Separate collection is worth spending time on, especially for some materials.

Two examples: the incorrect disposal of expired or unused medicines that, thrown into toilets and sinks, end up especially in water, instead of leaving them in the bins of pharmacies or in ecological islands. The consequences can be significant: toxicity in water and soil and further strengthening of resistance to antibiotics induced in microorganisms.

Speaking then of the collection of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment), we risk cluttering and damaging the environment, with the dispersion of many components that pollute in a dangerous way, as well as being a real waste of raw materials. In 2023, in Italy alone, we had 1,100,000 t of waste of which the quantity sent for recycling (component recovery) is only 349 thousand t (32%). For this reason, Italy is currently under infringement proceedings by the European Commission. However, there are signs of hope that come from recovery through repair. The European Union has asked the States to pass regulations by July 2026 that regulate and incentivize the right to repair WEEE. The issue for textile products is very serious: only 1% of the world's textile waste is correctly recycled; in Italy 0.8%: 2.7 kg/inhabitant. The problems of the plastics supply chain (plural) show the greatest difficulties in terms of recycling. The problem of pollution from plastics and microplastics is a global emergency issue, without wanting to launch any crusade against them. The conference in South Korea at the beginning of December 2024 was unfortunately useless: 178 countries had to find agreements to find solutions to the 20 million tons of plastic waste dispersed in nature every year. Disposable items were especially targeted. In the end, only ninety states adopted measures to outlaw single-use plastic, totally or partially. Some countries are working to eliminate microplastics from cosmetics (in 2030) and from the textile industry (which constitute approximately 15/30% of what ends up annually in the seas and oceans). France has imposed that washing machines install a filter for microplastics from 2025, capable of reducing them by 75%. And then there are some Italian journalists who continue to write that environmentalists are exaggerating about plastics...


Carlo Degiacomi
NP February 2025