A syringe after an injection, gloves used during a blood draw, gauze soiled at the dentist's, expired medicines collected from pharmacies. These are waste items we constantly encounter without giving them much thought, yet they cannot simply be disposed of through normal household recycling. But what actually happens to them once they leave clinics and hospitals?

In Italy, according to data from the Istituto superiore per la protezione e la ricerca ambientale (Ispra), the production of medical waste amounts to around 246,000 tonnes per year. This represents a small fraction of the 164 million tonnes of special waste generated nationally, but it demands particularly rigorous procedures from a regulatory and safety standpoint.

EcoEridania was founded in Genova in 1988 with precisely this mission. Since then, it has expanded its activities to include other types of waste – from industrial residues to unsold medicines – that remain off most people's radar, yet require complex management processes to protect the environment and public health.

After the hospital: the little-known fate of medical waste

One only needs to look around inside hospitals and clinics to notice that different containers are used. This is because potentially infectious materials, needles and sharp objects, and other medical waste must follow separate pathways from the moment of collection. Once sealed, they are collected by specialist operators and temporarily stored in dedicated facilities before being treated and disposed of. Some materials are first sterilised, while others go directly to authorised plants. Among the final destinations is incineration, in some cases with energy recovery.

It is a largely invisible yet enormous logistical operation. Above all, it is heavily regulated, given that these materials may contain infectious agents, pharmaceutical residues or chemical substances. EcoEridania handles all of these stages. The company works directly with hospitals and local health authorities through public tenders, as well as with individual clinics, testing laboratories, care homes, private practices, beauty studios and tattoo parlours. These are very different realities, but they share one thing in common: they cannot manage their own waste independently, nor can they deal with dozens of different operators given the volume of procedures and checks required.

While continuing to focus on medical waste, EcoEridania has broadened its scope over the years. Today it also manages industrial waste and, from 2017 onwards, its operations have included the Centro nazionale del reso farmaceutico in San Giuliano Milanese. This is where many of the expired, unsold or market-withdrawn medicines arrive from pharmacies, parapharmacies and wholesalers – a route entirely separate from the medicines that individuals deposit in designated collection bins. Collecting these medicines is only the first step, as every package must be registered, checked and documented before reimbursements can be issued. Only then does the disposal process begin.

Managing waste is not enough: building a culture of sustainability

Over the years, EcoEridania has become the leading Italian operator in the sector, with 20 subsidiaries, 33 branches and storage platforms across 14 regions, approximately 1,700 employees, more than 1,100 company-owned vehicles and a turnover of 449 million euros. It serves around 28,000 clients and manages a network of waste-to-energy plants, sterilisation facilities, treatment platforms and purification systems distributed across Italy. Yet the group's growth has also brought a shift in perspective: no longer simply managing waste once it already exists, but intervening earlier by working on prevention, information and awareness.

"Correctly managing waste is our trade, but today it is no longer enough to focus solely on the final stage of the process. There is still too little awareness of what happens to materials throughout the entire supply chain, and of the value they can generate when handled properly. This is why we have chosen to complement our industrial work with a commitment to outreach: communicating sustainability in a simple, concrete and evidence-based way means contributing to greater awareness, without oversimplifications or slogans," explains chairman Andrea Giustini. It is a signal of how even a technical and often invisible sector is seeking to step beyond its own boundaries, bringing environmental issues that affect everyone's daily lives to the centre of public debate.