Just under half of municipal waste is separately collected. The amount ending up in landfill has fallen considerably, while the incinerated fraction is growing.
Less waste is being produced, and half of it is separately collected. Of this, 44 per cent goes on to be recycled — a figure that is rising. And the amount ending up in landfill has fallen considerably (-16%). The North is leading Italy on separate collection, while the Centre leads on upstream reduction.
The picture painted by the "Rapporto Rifiuti Urbani 2016", which compiles Ispra data updated to 2015 on municipal waste across Italy's 8,000 municipalities, is one of both light and shadow. On the one hand, municipal waste production has been reduced — by a modest 0.4 per cent compared with the previous year, but by a solid 5.9 per cent compared with 2011 (amounting to 1.9 million tonnes). The separately collected fraction of waste also increased compared with the previous year, reaching 47.5 per cent of national production: just under half of municipal solid waste is separately collected, surpassing the 14 million tonne mark.
It is the North that is driving the rest of the country, with 8 million tonnes; the Centre accounts for nearly 2.9 million tonnes, while the South stops at 3.1 million tonnes. Veneto is the most virtuous region, with an excellent 68.8 per cent, followed by Trentino-Alto Adige with 67.4 per cent. Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Marche follow. Among the worst performers are Liguria, Lazio, Basilicata and Puglia. Also worth noting is Calabria's great leap forward, with +6 percentage points compared with 2014. Looking more specifically at provinces, Treviso comes first with 84 per cent, followed by the province of Mantua (79.9 per cent) and Pordenone with 78.4 per cent. Bringing up the rear are Palermo (7.8 per cent), Syracuse (7.9 per cent), Messina (10.1 per cent) and Enna (10.8 per cent).
Of the 29.5 million tonnes of waste produced, nearly half is separately collected, comprising organic waste, paper and cardboard, glass, plastic, metals and WEEE. Of this fraction, 44 per cent is recycled, returning to the production cycle as a secondary raw material. The remaining portion of municipal waste then follows two main paths: 19 per cent is incinerated — an increase of around 5 per cent compared with the previous year — while around a quarter of it ends up in landfill.
Also worth highlighting is a reduction of around 16 per cent compared with 2014. This figure puts Italy on the right track proposed by the European Commission towards so-called "zero landfill", at least as regards the fraction of waste collected through separate collection.
Ispra points out that there are "good prospects for Italy to meet the European recycling target, even before 2020". The target to be achieved under the European directive is 50 per cent by 2020. "Considering the increase in recycling rates observed in recent years," the Institute concludes, "the target could be achieved before the 2020 deadline."