There is a risk that many calls for circular economy projects should be deserted. This was written by Unirima, the association that brings together companies active in the recovery and recycling of paper and cardboard, expressing "deep concern for the limits on access to PNRR funds” intended for modernize waste recycling plants of paper and cardboard.
In particular, the question concerns the way in which the Ministry of Ecological Transition has interpreted the rules for investments in the circular economy, which according to the association "appears unreasonably restrictive, frustrates the disbursement of funds to businesses, and in fact increases the gap in terms of participation in tenders".
According to Mite, in fact, only projects can be financed that "go beyond the traditional waste recycling process, and more precisely those that are expression of a technological innovation, to the detriment of those projects that improve the production efficiency of the plants”, continues Unirima.
Now, the European legislation governing state aid for waste recycling does not require that the funding be allocated to the development of "new and innovative technologies". Consequently, “the restrictive interpretation adopted by Mite imposes excessive design burdens in the hands of the economic operators – continues the note from the association – e dramatically widens the gap in terms of participation between the companies participating in the various investment lines of the tenders, in violation of the rules of competition".
According to Giuliano Tarallo, president of Unirima, “the risk is that the calls for tenders for the implementation of flagship projects aimed at the circular economy will be deserted. We wrote to the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi asking for urgent action on the tenders. If you want to achieve the objectives aimed at by the Pnrr, you need to make sure that all those projects that guarantee a better efficiency of the recycling activity are admitted and avoid requiring unattainable efforts at a technological level. Timely intervention is needed, to guarantee those principles repeatedly referred to by the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority to protect the competitiveness of a crucial sector for the circular economy".
