Economic, energetic and environmental analysis of the waste management system of Reggio Calabria

Abstract

In the last decades problems concerning waste disposal have assumed increasing interest due to the growth of their production and typologies following consumption escalation. In an advanced industrial society waste constitute one of the main aspects concerning environment protection; their impact is linked to material quantity, typology and persistence into the environment. A correct waste management must be included within an integrated strategy of sustainable development: among the necessary actions aimed to reduce flows to landfills, regulations particularly indicate reduction of resource use, energy recovery, use of waste as a resource. Until today in Italy a sustainable management system has not been implemented yet, making frequent use of temporary solutions which only delay the problem come up. Within this frame, in the paper a case study has been analysed, referring to the collection and delivery system of Urban Solid Waste in Reggio Calabria, carrying out an analysis of the management process from an economic, energetic and environmental point of view. Analysing the phases following the collection (waste selection, transport, treatment), a critical evaluation of the used technologies has been conducted, assessing cost, energy consumption and pollutant emission. The analysed case has finally been compared with different scenarios, showing increasing percentage of differentiated collection, relating them to the least advanced disposal modality, landfill.