One hundred red binsin which to deliver the plastic bottles (without emptying them) full of used vegetable oil, will arrive in the next few weeks throughout the city of Genoa thanks to the agreement between the Municipality, Conoe (National Consortium for the collection and treatment of vegetable oils and fats and exhausted animals) and Amiu.
Oil is a highly polluting substance and homemade oil often ends up in the drain of sinks and toilets, damaging drains (the grease solidifies, creating blockages) or purifiers, which are not made to treat that type of substance. The result is additional maintenance costs and the risk of the oil ending up in the sea, polluting it. It is estimated that the purification of water polluted by this waste requires 1.10 euros per kilogram and the consumption of at least 3 kW/h of energy.
The estimate is that the Genoese produce between 600 and 800 tons of waste oil every year. Only a small part is collected. Precisely for this reason, an enhancement of the service and a new information campaign for citizens linked to the separate collection of used oil and vegetable fats is being launched in the Genoa area with the slogan “Oil recovered, environment saved!”.
The project was presented at Palazzo Tursi in the presence of the Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality of Genoa together with Giovanni Battista Raggi president of Amiu Genoa, Tommaso Campanile and Francesco Mancini respectively president and general director of Conoe – National Consortium for the collection and treatment of oils and spent vegetable and animal fats, the Consortium that deals with this recycling chain.
The agreement, of duration of three years, provides for the progressive extension of the collection with the positioning of the special bins with the characteristic red color in the various neighborhoods to cover all the Municipalities in a widespread manner: from public schools to supermarkets to parishes and other places of aggregation. Today there are only about twenty collection points (excluding ecological islands and Ecovans) and the mechanism is not very easy because it involves emptying the bottles. Now no longer.
«Oil is a very important resource to be recovered both on an environmental level − says the president of Amiu Giovanni Battista Raggi − both to be able to reintroduce it into the production process of both oils and lubricants and also biofuels. We thank Conae because without them this type of activity would be much more complicated and thanks to them we are able to include easily accessible points such as supermarkets, shopping centers or schools throughout the territory. The bins are not next to the normal ones because the volume of oil is less than that of the other waste that we normally collect in the area.”
Preparations have been made to launch the initiative a funnel with yellow filter and in the shape of a drop that the Municipality of Genoa intends to distribute in the initial phase of the project.
What to give
Only edible oils (olive oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, etc.) should be placed in the appropriate red containers, such as frying and cooking oil, oil for preserving canned and glass foods (tuna or vegetables) or seasoning oils. spoiled or expired vegetables. The used oil must be filtered from impurities and any food residues to optimize the transformation process from waste to resource, and collected in tightly closed plastic bottles which can be placed directly inside the red containers.
«The oil is a bit mistreated − states the Environment Councilor Matteo Campora − but terribly important and I really appreciated the activity carried out by Amiu, by the president, by the director of the entire structure and above all by Conoe, who wanted to push for this collection, which is very important. To launch this initiative we will also have meetings in the area where we will also distribute this object, which is particularly useful for collecting the oil and then taking it to the disposal. So it is an important step forward and also with this fraction we will be able to increase separate waste collection which, we always remember, has increased by 16% from 2017 to today and still needs to increase to reach the target of 65%”.
In Genoa in 2023 they were collected, mainly in the three ecological islands and through the Ecovan service approximately 47 tons of used oils and fats and around 13 tons in the first quarter of this yearbut with the new implementation we want to multiply the quantities collected in the area.
Tommaso Campanile president of Conoe points out: «What is collected in professional activities is now collected and recovered 100%, however the percentage is still insignificant in homes, which represent two thirds of the oil that is dispersed. Today there is a phenomenal recovery: 99% of it is transformed into bio diesel and biofuel. Multiplying the tons of used oil by three gives the amount of Co2 saved. Another use of the recovered oil is vegetable microplastic which can replace the more polluting plastic contained in shampoos, cosmetics, sun creams, paints and so on.”
Francesco Mancini, director of Conoe adds: «It took time for the various technical requirements and also for the identification of the areas to make the collection as simple as possible».
As already mentioned, in addition to the ‘red’ oil points, as always, used oil can continue to be delivered to the various collection centers and ecological islands and obviously to the 57 Ecovans that are stationed in our city on different days and roads. The points where citizens can find the points available to them are found in the section of the site.
Tags: Collection vegetable oil Amiu launches red bins city
