A cutting-edge waste cycle, the increase in the percentage of separate waste collection and the approaching elimination of the European fine imposed in the aftermath of the 2008 waste emergency (for now reduced by a third and another reduction is on the way ), are just some of the results reported by Campania region at the General States of the Environment held from 12 to 14 June at the Mostra d’Oltremare in Naples, as part of the Green Med Expo & Symposium.
Talks about “A new story” the vice-president and councilor for the environment of the Campania region, Fulvio Bonavitacola and it does so by summarizing, together with Vannia Gava Deputy Minister of the Environment and Energy Safety, the numerous results reported in recent years during which we have worked to remedy a cumbersome legacy (the infamous tons of ecoballs) and to create a waste cycle capable of favoring recovery, recycling and valorization of waste. A story that necessarily had to begin with the ecobales stacked in the regional territory, for which, in addition to being sent outside the region, two treatment plants were built in just three and a half years. One in Caivano and one in Giugliano. The opening of the Caivano plant has allowed the reduction of a third of the European fine, with the entry into operation of Giugliano a new reduction is expected, as demonstrated by Mario Brunomanager of the UOD technical activities related to the removal of the RSBs of the Campania Region following a hearing in Brussels on the topic.
Zero new landfills. Zero new incinerators. Increase in the percentage of waste separation. New composting plants And modernization of STIRs (Waste shredding and packaging plants). These, in a nutshell, are the key points through which the objective of treating all waste production in Campania will be achieved, eliminating the European sanction.
Was Antonello Barretta, general director of the Waste Cycle of the Campania Region, to reel off the figures of the long excursus which is concluding with the approval of the new regional waste plan in Campania which will also fulfill some conditionalities set by the PR Campania FESR 2021-2027 and will lead to the closing of the cycle and the overcoming of the European fine.
There separate waste collection is at 56%the goal with the new plan is to reach 70% by 2030.
The increase in waste separation, accompanied by the modernization of the STIR plants involved in the “Smart STIR” project illustrated by Rocco Martello, CEO and Founder of OWAC srl Engineering Company, will allow the treated portion of waste to be further separated. The recovery of plastics, metal alloys, and in the future also fabrics, will make it possible to reduce the quantity of waste sent to waste-to-energy plants.
The centrality of the Acerra waste-to-energy plant is therefore confirmed. The plant whose sustainability, supported by data, both from an economic (energy production) and environmental point of view (biomonitoring also with bees), will remain the only one of its type in the region.
As well as there will be no need for new landfills. Thanks to the interventions of landflill mining (excavation of existing landfills), illustrated by Giovanni Perillo, president of the Campana section Hydrotechnical Association, space is recovered without the need to consume new soil. The action is underway at the Maruzzella 1 and 2 landfills in the Caserta area. By operating on landfills closed at the beginning of 1990 (when very little differentiation was made), numerous materials can be recovered and valorised on site, making room for any new treatment needs in the area.
Always with a view to improving the quality of treatment also the TMB plants (Mechanical-Biological Treatment) of the metropolitan area of Naples are making an evolutionary leap. As explained by Domenico Ruggiero, director of SAPNA. SpA offers us new possibilities for reusing the stabilized waste resulting from processing.
As for the humid fraction classical, however, are in the home stretch 11 new plants of composting. The plants – 2 in the province of Caserta, 5 in the province of Naples (Tufino is already ready), 2 in the province of Avellino, 1 in the Benevento area and in the Salerno area, where Eboli is added to the already operational one in Salerno – will allow us to have a capacity of treatment of 800 thousand tons, completely exhausting the regional need.
But waste was not the only topic covered during the event, the result of the consolidated collaboration with Ecomondo and Ricicla TV.
If, in past editions, the integrated water cycle, river contracts and air quality were discussed, this year, alongside the waste cycle, attention was also focused on the “Borghi Salute e Benessere” project. A program that aims to combine environmental issues with the development of areas affected by depopulation and abandonment. The Campania Region has launched a public tender through the regional company Scabec, which was joined by 334 municipalities, grouped into 48 networks. These networks will serve to spread energy communities, a tool for the production of renewable energy. The seminar on the “Borghi Salute e Benessere” project concluded with the intervention of the regional tourism councilor Felice Casucci he was born in president of the Campania Region Vincenzo De Luca who underlined the importance of these initiatives for the revitalization of rural areas and the promotion of sustainable development.
