THE NEW WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OF THE LOMBARDY REGION: THE TARGETS OF MUNICIPAL WASTE RECYCLING

Abstract

The Update of the Regional Waste Management Program (PRGR), including the Program of Polluted Areas (PRB) of the Lombardy Region (Lombardy Region, 2022), was approved by Regional Council Resolution No. 6408 of 23/05/2022. The Program contributes to the implementation of EU sustainable development strategies, as well as representing the programming tool through which the Lombardy Region defines in an integrated manner the policies on the prevention, recycling, recovery and disposal of waste, as well as the management of polluted sites. to be reclaimed. The update of the Waste Program is therefore in line with the Directives referred to in the "Package for the Circular Economy" which is part of a broader European strategy that aims to achieve a profound change in production and consumption models, according to the new perspective of the so-called "Circular Economy". In 2019, a total of 4,840,740 tons of municipal waste were produced in the Lombardy Region. Each citizen generated on average 479.1 kilograms of waste, a figure substantially coinciding with that of 2018 (478.7 kg / inhabitant * year). In 2019, separate waste collection in Lombardy reached the regional average of 72% (calculation method DM 2016), with peaks of virtuous communal realities that steadily stood at over 80%. Compared to the other Italian regions, Lombardy is in fourth position, after Veneto, Sardinia and Trentino Alto Adige. The percentage of separate waste collection at the municipal level has grown steadily over the last ten years, also with reference to the previous method of calculating the DGR 2011, as is evident from the following maps. The collection model that led to these results is the door-to-door one (extended to over 80% of the Lombard municipalities) which, in some contexts, has equipped itself with a system for monitoring the contributions with the primary aim of raising awareness to the citizen of his level of waste production; this monitoring system is also necessary and preliminary to the possible implementation of the punctual rate based on the key concept of the European Directive on the environment "the polluter pays" (declined in PAYT - Pay As You Throw). The program contains evolutionary scenarios up to 2027 for both urban waste and special waste, defining specific objectives and implementation tools, which aim to favor effective recycling processes and limit the creation of new landfill volumes. As is known, with the entry into force of Directive (EU) 2018/851, Member States must achieve challenging recycling targets as specified in art. 11, i.e. to raise the preparation for reuse and recycling of municipal waste to at least 55% by weight by 2025, to 60% by 2030, to 65% by 2035. Since actual recycling is not equivalent to separate collection, as it must calculated net of the rejects deriving from the separation and selection and recycling operations themselves, the Lombardy Region has set itself the objective of estimating, in the context of updating the PRGR, in the most analytical way possible the value of this net recycling, both as a state of fact and as future goals. The actual recycling level achieved in 2019, applying the assumptions to each individual Municipality, estimating the quantities of waste in the selection and recycling phase, and then processing the regional average indicator, is equal to 54.9%, an interesting figure since it anticipates the achievement of the national target set by the revision of Directive 2008/98 / EC by six years (55% by 2025). In the scenario of the plan assumed, 83.3% of regional average separate waste collection is expected to be reached by 2027, a very ambitious value, corresponding to 67.8% of net recycling, already congruent with the 2035 target (65% by 2035). This scenario is built on the basis of a series of synergistic objectives, such as the prevention of the production of municipal waste, special waste, and the reduction of the need for landfill disposal for special waste, given that municipal waste in Lombardy does not already currently are sent to landfill.