COMENIUS PROJECT ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO DI GATTEO ITALY WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL IN OUR TERRITORY

In Gatteo, like in many other municipalities in Emilia Romagna, waste collection and disposal are managed by Hera. Hera S.p.A. is one of the leading multi-service groups in Italy. The group operates in the environment, energy and water sectors. Hera Group

Hera Group is one of leading firms in Italy in managing services relating to the water cycle, in the energy sector and in the environmental services management (waste collection and disposal, city cleaning, thermal waste treatment, composting).water cycleenergyenvironmental services management In the environmental sector Hera Group manages the entire recovery and recycling cycle through synergies between the Operative Environmental services (waste collection, sweeping and street cleaning) and waste treatment services (recovery and disposal), for a total approximately 5.2 million tons of waste treated in 2008.environmental sector Hera Group The Group also encourages energy recovery initiatives from waste through waste-to-energy plants, cogeneration and biogas production, to limit landfill disposal only to what cannot be recovered ìn the form of either materials or energy. Hera Group also engages in the collection of special waste deriving from industrial, commercial and tertiary activities

HERA Environment and Sustainability Sustainability of the abilities in the environment sector mainly involves : increasing separate waste collection with the subsequence recovery of materials; Decreasing landfill disposal and recovery of energy from waste (waste-to-energy plants and biogas). % separate waste , , , , , ,0

Main features of the organisation structure of the Hera Group integrated Waste Management separate collection System are: Territorial collection system, aimed mainly at domestic and small non-domestic users Collection system using Ecological Station which completes the service offer related to the various sectors and targets not served by other systems Target user collection system, domiciliary collection from productive or commercial activities for specific waste or in particular municipal situations

Product Composition of separate waste collection

In northen Italy the % of separate collection is 38%, in the region Emilia Romagna is 30,9%, In the province of Forli- Cesena is 30,2%. Separate waste collection From 1997 to 2007, the Hera Group Companies have increased the average percentage of separate collection from 11% to 38,4%

A separate collection, lot’s of percentages 38% in the North, 19% in the Centre, 9% in the South Separate collection on the total of urban waste

About 140 million tons of waste are produced yearly in Italy. 31 tons are municipal solid, the rest are special waste. Production of special waste is mainly concentrated in the northen regions due to a greater presence of industrial activities The flows in Italy: We produce per head 539 kg of urban waste in a year. Production of waste per-capita (Kg/ab/anno)

This graphic shows the yearly quantitatives per capita in each region of separate and non-separate waste Separate collection on the total of urban waste

Sogliano Environment S.p.A. is a modern service company specialized in planning, contruction, management of waste disposal and recovery plants, and recovery of energy from biogas. SOGLIANO ENVIRONMENT S.p.A THE LANDFILL OF SOGLIANO

Sogliano is a small town not far from Gatteo and it’s famous for its landfill. The landfill is situated in the periphery, about ten km away and it is one of the most modern dumps in Italy. It doesn’t cause damage to the environment and it follows the rules of sustainable development. In the dump nothing is waste. Most of the rubbish is separated, recycled and resold as raw material. The waste that is not recycled is put in a big hole and then buried. The environmental restoration is extended for a lot of years so the area is covered with natural land, by grass seeding and planting of trees and bushes. The covered waste produces methane because of the anaerobic decomposition,that is gathered and used to produce electric energy thanks to four methane generators. Electric energy is then sold to the Italian electricity company. Visitors come from all over the world to see and try to apply this model in their countries. Sogliano’s administration, thanks to this landfill, earns a lot of money and the citizens get a lot of benefits, for example local taxes reduction, free school books and free school transport.

“ MONGARTE ”, the art of recycling In the centre of Sogliano there is an exibition “ MongArte”. It shows sculptures built with biodegradable and recovered waste materials (mongo). An artist makes them every year with a different theme. The forth edition of the event is dedicated to three Romagnoli artists whose works will be exbibited in the centre of the town.

One of the artists at work among recycled waste.

 A guided visit to find out what happens to rubbish  Sogliano Environment organizes guided visits to its plants for school classes, technicians and esperts in the sector,but also for citizens.  PROJECT: THE FUTURE OF RUBBISH Tracks of Education to Sustainable Development for junior schools Sogliano Environment has already been involving for several years in carrying on activities to environmental education in the schools in the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Educating young people to the attention and respect for environmental resources is an essential task for training responsible inhabitants in the future. Educating to a more conscious relationship with resources ( starting from energy) and products often bought absent-mindedly and bound to become refusals in a very short time. Teaching not stopping at prejudices like “refusal = negative thing, useless, dead", but go beyond and see for oneself that rubbish can be – must be considered a resource. EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

Bibliography  Hera Group, environment and sustainability  Hera Group, management of municipal waste;  Internet Sites: Comunedigatteo.it, soglianoambiente.it