From collection to recycling, it is necessary to encourage greater competition in the management of municipal waste, because opening up the market would bring environmental and economic benefits. This is the proposal made today to Parliament by the president of the Antitrust, Giovanni Pitruzzella, during a hearing in the Senate Environment Commission.
"In addition to producing positive effects in terms of lower costs for the community - Pitruzzella underlined - a restructuring of the system can favor the creation of new businesses and jobs".
The solid urban waste sector (MSW), continued the President of the Authority, "represents one of the main sectors of public services of economic importance in Italy", considering that around 170 million tons of waste are produced in our country. year, with an average of three tons per capita, of which 19% is made up of municipal waste, equal to 30 million tons.
As regards the final destination of waste, according to a note from the Antitrust, until a few years ago recourse to landfills still prevailed (42,1% in 2011), while recycling and energy recovery settled on values slightly lower, respectively 23% and 20%.
In the upstream phase of waste collection, there are three critical points which, in the opinion of the Authority, penalize competition:
1) the models for assigning the collection service, carried out under a legal monopoly under the concession of the responsible local authority, or through direct assignment by the Regions, without any call for tenders;
2) the risks of an extension of the legal monopoly also to the recovery and disposal phase, since the legislation in force is in favor of the integrated management of municipal solid waste;
3) finally, the horizontal definition of the perimeter of the collection, and in particular the assimilation of special waste to urban waste, which determines "significant competitive imbalances" with an "unjustified extension of the exclusive rights granted to the entities entrusted with local public services" .
