There is a wealth in Italy's energy future that is still not being fully exploited: the symbiosis industrial. That virtuous process through which waste by-products are used as raw material for other productions. The ability to intervene in this area will result in the creation of new added value. Until now this capacity has been excessively restricted "by limiting the remission of waste in the production chains, without further treatments". The moment is favorable as it is with the National Waste Management Program (PNGR) and with the National Strategy for the Circular Economy (SNC extension) organizational and structural limits can be overcome. One studio edited by Andrea Ballabio, Donato Berardi e Nicholas Valle of the Research Center Ref “GDP and waste from economic activities. That decoupling is still far away” provides the basis on which to set new strategies to save money and push on decoupling (decoupling) between value creation and waste production in Italy. The data collected by the three researchers highlight the urgency of intervening, in particular, reducing the waste deriving from the treatment of the waste itself.
Waste management in Italy between new regulations and funding
The reforms envisaged by the PNRR for waste contain many useful indications. “In the timetable for the implementation of the SNEC measures – write the researchers – the industrial symbiosis projects are recalled. As well as the use of regulatory and financial instruments to support them”. Industrial symbiosis is also one of the pillars of the SNEC, as regards the transformation of production models. Among goals to 2035 there is the unprecedented simplification of authorizations and the inclusion of circular districts.
As for the data to work with, the study states that in 2020 out of 174,9 million tons of waste produced, there were more than 81 million tons of waste attributable to economic activities. Where is this underused heritage? “Water management and waste management are the main producers, with 42,2 million tons, or 52% of the total waste deriving from economic activities”. In the last ten years the specific weight of these residues has become an Italian peculiarity. If we add that Italy produces more waste than other EU countries, we realize that the production system runs, but it could do so in a more profitable using their waste. So decoupling is the magic word.
Decoupling is the magic word
Why can't we give it substance? "The environmental policies in recent years, specifically those that revolve around the theme of the circular economy, have focused on the theme of decoupling – reads Ref's study -. In our country, on the other hand, the production of waste from economic activities is growing at a faster rate than the GDP. Companies also manage materials and scraps that could be reintroduced into the production process as waste”. More than one in five rejections related to economic activities are selection rejects. And the phenomenon is partly explained by the lack of impianti on which a short-sighted policy intervened. "It is evident that these numbers also conceal the lack of systems for closing the waste cycle, especially for energy recovery". These are the sad notes of another Italian peculiarity compared to countries like France e Germany.
Fortunately, the PNGR “recommends the preference for plant-technological options aimed at energy recovery direct". In the great circle of rubbish, differentiated collection continues to be central. It is no coincidence that - observe Ballabio, Berardi and Valle - it is also necessary to increase the quality "and not only the quantity of waste deriving from collection, thus going to reduce residual waste“. A good method to have energy recovery at the expense of the disposal at the landfill.
Finally, among the medium-long term solutions to reduce waste is that ofeco design. Italy is well on its way, but if it manages to grow more in the "design of goods that reduces their environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, we will have wider recourse to industrial symbiosis practices". The choices of politics and business should give substance to assessments of this type, which do nothing but pave the way for new forms of economy. Because Italy can also become a model to inspire.
