The first of the series of meetings organized by was very well attended and profitable Legambiente Calabria with the support of ConaiNational Packaging Consortium, entitled “Recycling never goes on holiday” to talk about waste as a resource for the territories. The meeting, which was held in the conference room of the Green Station in Santa Domenica di Ricadi (VV), saw the presence of many mayors and local administrators from the province of Vibo Valentia and numerous students.
The works, moderated by Emilio White, coordinator of Legambiente’s regional Ecoforums, were introduced by Anna Parretta, president of Legambiente Calabria: “lin Calabria must translate the theory into practice of the circular economy – Parretta said – realizing the famous three “Rs”: reduce waste, reuse and recycle for a cleaner and more sustainable Calabria. Correct separate waste collection it is essential for the environment and for the economy and is also an important factor in the fight against the very serious scourge of waste abandonment”.
“The correct management of the waste cycle in Calabria, whose responsibility is shared between all those involved, it comes from the courage to act and implement solutions such as punctual pricing and a reward and penalty system that increases separate waste collection in the awareness that illegal behaviors such as abandoning waste in the environment or failure to pay the Tari with consequent increase in costs for honest citizens are not acceptable”.
“We must also be aware that the problems inherent to the waste management cycle cannot be resolved without building technologically advanced waste recycling and treatment plants in Calabria”. The interventions by the experts were particularly interesting: Fabio Costarelladeputy general director of Conai; Sergio Hair, Co-founder Impactellers e Bruno Gualtieriextraordinary commissioner of the Calabria waste and water resources authority who has highlighted the important role of Arrical and the transformations taking place in the regional management of the waste cycle.
The vision of CONAI
“Calabria’s sustainable results have improved in recent years – explains the deputy general director of CONAI Fabio Costarella -.But, with a percentage of separate waste collection of almost 55%, the Region still has ample room for improvement with regards to waste management, also in light of the lack of systems from which many areas of Southern Italy continue to suffer”.
“One of the first steps to achieve increasingly ambitious circularity objectives must certainly be the activation of associated management by the Municipalities, capable of making the integrated waste cycle more effective and more efficient. This is also why initiatives such as ‘Recycling never goes on holiday’ have strategic importance: improving the results of separate waste collection and therefore recycling is everyone’s task, and both citizens and tourists must be made aware of the importance of separating correctly the packaging arrived at the end of its life”.
“To increasingly improve national results, truly protecting the planet’s resources, the contribution of each Region will be fundamental. We really hope that initiatives like this become increasingly frequent and participatory”. The teachers also intervened Loredana Giroldini representing the higher education institute “P. Galluppi” of Tropea e Sunday Davola representing the IIS ITG-ITI of Vibo Valentia.
Recycling municipalities
The mayor of Ricadi brings greetings, Nicola Antonio Tripodi and the president of the Legambiente Ricadi club, Frank Saragò. There were also numerous interventions by various mayors and other administrators of the Municipalities of Rombiolo, Francavilla Angitola, Spilinga, Briatico, Zambrone, Limbadi, Philadelphia, Parghelia, Dasà as well as the province of Vibo Valentia which enriched the comparison by highlighting positive elements and critical aspects of the respective territories.
To conclude the work, Laura Brambilla, national manager of “Comuni Ricicloni” of Legambiente. With the organization of a cycle of events supported by Conai, Legambiente wanted to make its own contribution to improving, together with all the direct protagonists starting from the Municipalities, the waste management cycle in Calabria, remembering that separate waste collection never goes on holiday it is actually more important than ever in wonderful places with a high tourist vocation.
The numbers
Calabria is changing positively, but in terms of waste, a decisive acceleration is necessary because the change is taking place at too slow a pace. Compared to the 38 waste-free municipalities in the Region, up 9% compared to the previous year which not only have achieved very high percentages of separate waste collection, but also have an annual per capita production of residual dry waste of less than 75 kg in the territory, a strong lack of homogeneity persists in the diffusion of separate waste collection and Calabria, on the whole, continues to not achieve the increasingly challenging objectives set by community legislation.
The province of Vibo Valentia reaches 69.9% of separate waste collection with a percentage growth of 3% compared to the previous year. There are 7 waste-free municipalities in the province of Vibo Valentia: Mongiana, Acquaro, Gerocarne, Stefanaconi, Dasà, Difesa, Vazzano.
Important results with the right administration
It is also important to note that among the non-recycling municipalities in the Vibo area which need to improve their performances, some decrease in percentage of separate waste collection but many others show very significant increases as in the case of Sant’Onofrio which rises by 39.8%, Francavilla Angitola which rises by 32.3%, San Nicola da Crissa rises by 34.3%, or Arena which rises by around 30% while others such as Ricadi, Simbario or Ioppolo show increases of around 10%.
Data that makes us understand how important results can be achieved with the right administrative will. From the comparison, various problems emerged in the area, in particular those relating to the collection of bulky waste, the need to contain costs often and above all those connected to the abandonment of waste in the environment by uncivilized people.
But also pragmatic proposals such as rewards for ecological operators and discounts on the Tari. Particular emphasis, by many, was given to the importance of awareness and communication campaigns on correct separate waste collection with particular attention to the Municipalities which experience an exponential increase in the presence in the area every year in relation to tourist flows.
On 8 May, thanks to the head teacher of the IIS “Galuppi” of Tropea (VV), Nicolantonio Cutulithe initiative concluded with the improvisation show created by Francis Rusito of the Theater Company “Richi and his friends” which involved around a hundred girls and boys with a reflection on reuse and the correct methods of carrying out separate waste collection.
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