ROME (ITALPRESS) – “Municipalities are always ready to do their part and they will be this time as well. The situation is evolving since there are many relationships with supply chain consortia but now the Anci-Conai Framework Agreement will have to become a sector agreement: it is a new challenge for municipalities because then different consortia and provinces will also be involved. We are ready to contribute but in a reasonable way: municipalities have always been pragmatic, it is important to understand that you cannot just differentiate: you also have to recycle or in this the administrations we are already virtuous and will continue to be.” This was said by Stefano Locatelli, Anci vice-president and member of the Anci-Conai Coordination Committee, speaking at the presentation of the main data of the 14th ANCI-CONAI 2024 Report, moderated by Anci deputy secretary general Stefania Dota, in the presence of Vannia Gava, deputy minister of the Environment and Energy Security.
“The 14th ANCI-CONAI Report,” said Vannia Gava, “confirms progress in separate collection and recycling, with an increasingly efficient and widespread system. Thanks to collaboration with ANCI and funding from the PNRR, we have strengthened support to municipalities, closing territorial gaps and improving urban waste management. Italy has already exceeded European targets for recycling, demonstrating the effectiveness of the model adopted. We are now working to improve further by boosting PET recycling, incentivizing the use of secondary raw materials and promoting innovative and sustainable solutions. To this end, we have provided for the renewal and extension of the tax credit for companies that purchase products made from recycled materials, with a 20 million euro intervention on FSC funds,” the deputy minister concluded.
For Anci delegate for Waste Recycling and Recovery, Packaging Materials Valorization and Cagliari Mayor Massimo Zedda, “the renewal of the Framework Agreement is of fundamental importance in relation to the environmental issues of reuse and recycling of materials.” In his opinion, “modalities and definition of rewards should be foreseen at the technical level, both for the characteristics related to small municipalities and for the difficulties of large urban realities.”
Ignazio Capuano, president of Conai, recalled, “For more than twenty-six years, the business world and the world of public administrations have been working through the Framework Agreement and the technical tools provided, with the aim of increasingly increasing the interception and recycling of packaging materials in urban collections. From 1999 to 2023, more than 75 million tons of packaging waste, thanks to the separate collection promoted by municipalities, have found their way to recycling and recovery thanks to the system represented by Conai and the Chain Consortia. Always keeping in mind that environmental protection must be the only, true common goal to be achieved through a constructive and solution-oriented discussion, in which public and private collaborate for an increasingly efficient and fair circular economy.”
“Within an Anci-Conai system that once again confirms its validity, Rome is strongly committed to improving waste management, thanks to the growth of the role of its Azienda AMA, the new plants and the increasingly close collaboration with the supply chain consortia,” stressed Sabrina Alfonsi, councillor for Agriculture, Environment and Waste Cycle of Roma Capitale. “For the future, I am sure that the Anci-Conai system will be able to meet the additional challenges coming from Europe on the prevention of waste production and the separate collection of new materials, to help ensure the health of citizens and the defense of the environment from pollution.”
The XIV Report shows that an overall percentage of separate collection of 66.6 percent has been reached in Italy in 2023: +5 percent over 2019 and +1.5 percent over 2022, a sign of a marked improvement in both the organizational models of separate collections and the ability to intercept municipal waste. Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Sardinia are confirmed as the most virtuous regions, with 76.6 percent, 77.1 percent and 76.3 percent, respectively. Still lagging behind are Liguria in the North and Lazio in the Center; in the South, on the other hand, Abruzzo and Basilicata are close to the 65 percent separate collection target.
The average production of total municipal waste was 496 kg/inhabitant. “It is clear that there are still differences between the North of the country and the South,” explained Conai Deputy Director General Fabio Costarella, “even though, especially in recent years, some realities in the Center-South have made great strides, with better results than those of some cities in northern regions. But there are still many opportunities to be exploited, especially looking at some of the industrial sectors that have developed in some areas of the country: in fact, let’s not forget that the Italian model of circular economy is based on a strong sense of shared responsibility, and only through a synergic action between businesses, administrations and citizens can we guarantee a truly effective and sustainable waste management model.”
There has been a decrease in the total quantities delivered to the Supply Chain Consortia, compared to an increase in the fees disbursed, both in reference to 2022 and considering the last five years. On the other hand, the total amount of materials delivered to the Consortia by the Conai Supply Chain Consortia was just under 5.5 million tons (almost 100 thousand tons less than in 2022). The total fees paid to the Convenors have an increasing trend over the five-year period 2019-2023, reaching 693 million euros by 2023. As a result of the revision activity of the Technical Annexes for almost all Consortia in the last five years there is a growth in the value of the fees paid.
-Photo Anci press office-.
(ITALPRESS).
