La waste management it costs more and more and the alternatives are certainly not cheap. One of the most effective technologies for waste management is waste-to-energy, a process that converts waste into energy and reduces the total amount to be disposed of in landfills, but as we know it is at the center of numerous controversies. However, the shortage of incinerators in Italy, especially in the Center and in the South, it has led to the need to transport waste to Italy and beyond, but at a high price.
Italy disburses millions every year to export its waste abroad. Expenditures that weigh on the budgets of the municipal waste collection company (Ama) and which the Romans discount by paying a Tari more than salty. According to the latest Ispra data, the central regions are in fact the areas where citizens pay the highest waste tax: 230,7 euros per inhabitant. In second place is the South (202,3 euros/inhabitant), followed by the North (174,6 euros/inhabitant).
On the other hand, without plants and in the absence of landfills, there aren't too many alternatives.
How many waste-to-energy plants are there in Italy?
There are in our country 37 waste-to-energy plants mainly in the North (26 plants, 13 in Lombardy and 7 in Emilia-Romagna); less in the Center and in the South where 5 and 6 rigs are operating respectively. A figure, the Italian one, which at the European level pales in comparison with the 126 plants in France and the 96 in Germany.
In this context, what happens to the rubbish produced by the Romans? The loads go to the provinces of Latina, Frosinone, Abruzzo and Lombardy, or to the waste-to-energy plants in Emilia-Romagna when they are not distributed between Austria, Holland, Germany and Sweden. And while waiting until the implementation of the waste-to-energy plant in Rome, it will be that of Acea Ambiente in San Vittore del Lazio, in the Frosinone area, which will take care of the rest.
San Vittore waste-to-energy plant: towards the fourth line
Il San Vittore del Lazio waste-to-energy plant, the only plant of this type active in the Region, is a virtuous example of what Rome's future waste-to-energy plant could represent. This is one of the two plants managed by Acea Ambiente (the other is located in Terni) for the production of electricity through the use of secondary solid fuel (the so-called CSS) derived from non-hazardous special waste from separate and non-separate waste collection and treated previously.
The plant covers an area of approximately 80.000 square meters and consists of three production lines independent with a maximum annual treatment capacity of 397.200 tons of waste: line 1, in operation since 2002, is authorized to treat 125.200 tons per year; line 2 and line 3, active since 2011, handle 136.000. A European tender is currently underway for the fourth line, which is essential for managing the waste cycle in Lazio. For the fourth line, which will have a capacity of 186.000 tonnes per year under ordinary conditions, an investment of around 200 million euros is planned, thanks to which the treatment capacity of the entire plant will rise to 447.200 tonnes per year.
As expected, however, the decision was not welcomed by all. The project has registered the opposition protestsi of the Center-Right to the then junta Zingaretti, is disliked by the Movimento 5 Stelle which has always put its foot down even against the system that the mayor Gualtieri will build in Rome. The fourth line "will help to reduce the region's plant deficit", underlined the councilor for waste of Rome, Sabrina Alfonsi.
Acea Ambiente has already obtained from the Region the single regional authorization provision (Paur) which includes both the Integrated Environmental Authorization (AIA) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (VIA) for its implementation as it is fully in line with the provisions of the regional planning .
In the environmental sector, Acea has grown over the last 10 years, becoming the 4th national operator with precise roots in central Italy. Thanks to constant investments in the sector, it has significantly increased the volume of waste treated reaching approximately 1,7 million tonnes of waste recovered, recycled and disposed of in 2022. It therefore has the know-how and management experience to ensure development of an investment of this magnitude.
At what stage is the waste-to-energy plant in Rome?
For waste-to-energy plant in Rome a proposal has arrived from the temporary grouping of national and international companies (such as Hitachi Zosen Inova, Vianini Lavori and Suez) led by Acea Ambiente. The subsidiary of the Acea Group presented its own proposal on 1 March expression of interest the public notice called by the Municipality of Rome for the Rome waste-to-energy plant. The notice called for the search for operators interested in presenting a project financing proposal for the assignment of the concession of a plant engineering hub relating to the design, operating authorisation, construction and management of a waste-to-energy plant and related ancillary plant engineering.
The plant, with a treatment capacity of 600.000 tons per year, will be built in the area of Santa Palomba, on the border with Ardea and Pomezia and Albano Laziale. According to the rigid timetable of Rome Capital, the publication of the tender notice is expected by August 31st, the deadline for the presentation of offers by October 2024st, the opening of construction sites by July 2026 and entry into operation for the second half of XNUMX.
