In the numbers of the 2024 report of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, inert materials are also included. Edo Ronchi: “Now we are increasing the demand for secondary raw materials”
With 137 million tons of recycled waste, which corresponds to 85.6% of the total waste treated (including urban and special waste including inert waste), Italy leads the European ranking of countries that recycle the most, with the EU average standing at 40.8%. Italy also excels in the rate of use of secondary raw materials: 20.8% of the materials used by industry in 2023 come from waste recycling, almost double the European average (11.8%), compared to 13.9% in Germany, 17.6% in France, 8.5% in Spain. These are the numbers of the report “Recycling in Italy 2024”, presented during the third edition of the National Conference of the Recycling Industry promoted by the Foundation for Sustainable Development in collaboration with Conai and Pianeta2030 of Corriere della Sera, under the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment, Ispra and the National System for Environmental Protection.
The demand for recycled material
“To increase circularity and recycling rates, it is essential to ensure stability, adequate volumes of demand and remunerative prices for secondary raw materials generated by recycling,” commented the President of the Foundation for Sustainable Development Edo Ronchi: “This is why the new proposal announced by Commissioner Von der Leyen for a new European law on the circular economy is of strategic importance. which will help create market demand for secondary materials. But in addition to European measures, national initiatives would also be needed to increase domestic demand for materials from recycling and effectively combat unfair competition from industrial recycling activities.”
“With the start of the new course of the European Commission led by Von der Leyen,” underlined the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto Fratin in his video message to the Conference, “there is a new opportunity to focus on for the development of a circular economy with the goal of a decarbonized economy.”
The challenge of textiles
Among the most significant challenges is that concerning the textile sector: while increasing the quantities of textile waste collected in recent years (in 2022 collection amounted to about 160 thousand tons, up about 4% compared to 2021), the estimated share of municipal textile waste is still large, over 1 million tons (about 7 times the amount of separate collection recorded in 2022) that end up in undifferentiated collection. The obligation of separate waste collection in force in Italy since 2022 is still little applied, also due to the lack of recycling plants, new developments are expected for recycling in the sector at European level. In 2020, the European Union generated around 6.9 million tonnes of textile waste, with an average of around 16 kg per capita: only 4.4 kg per capita was collected separately for reuse and recycling. Today, only 1% of textiles are recycled in a closed loop and it is estimated that, to achieve circularity in Europe, between 150 and 250 new plants would be needed by 2030.
Among the various types of waste, inert materials from construction and demolition activities are also confirmed as the most significant waste stream in 2022 (about 60 million tons). The recovery rate stands at 79.8% in 2022, therefore above the target of 70% set for 2020. In 2022, 7.2 million tons of organic waste were collected in Italy, of which 5.4 million tons of wet waste and 1.8 million tons of green waste, 4.7 million and 2 million tons of packaging paper and cardboard and glass respectively.
AMADEUS Music & Art – Amadeus Project of the Children of the Fairies Supported by LEM
The AMADEUS Association of Salerno, active since 1990, promotes musical and theatrical culture through courses and activities for all ages. In recent years, the association
