Descrizione 1
Irma Lupica
The indicator measures the quantity of special waste treated in production plants across the country, used either partially or entirely as a substitute for traditional fuels. In 2022, more than 1.8 million tons of special waste were recovered in co-incineration plants. Compared to 2021, the quantities of energy recovered are substantially stable, showing a slight decrease of about 1,000 tons (-0.1%). The regional distribution shows that the majority of special waste, 75.4% of the total, is recovered in the Northern regions, followed by the Central regions with 12.8% and the Southern regions with 11.8%.
Pressure and response indicator that measures the quantities of special waste treated in production plants as a total or partial replacement for traditional fuels.
This indicator allows for the evaluation of the quantities of waste used as a total or partial replacement for traditional fuels in production plants across the country. It facilitates comparisons between regions, provinces, and municipalities and provides information to support environmental policy decisions.
The regulatory reference for co-incineration is Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), transposed into national legislation under Title III-bis of Part IV of Legislative Decree 152/06 (Environmental Code). This Directive comprehensively regulates the incineration and co-incineration of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, from the construction of facilities to all stages of the incineration process, including waste reception through to residue disposal. Specifically, the decree lays down provisions regarding: emission limit values; methods for sampling, analysing and assessing pollutants emitted by waste incineration and co-incineration plants; general technical criteria and standards concerning the structural, operational and management characteristics of such plants, with particular attention to ensuring integrated environmental protection from emissions caused by these facilities; and transitional criteria for adapting existing installations to the new requirements.
Descrizione 2
ISPRA - Rapporto rifiuti speciali - Edition 2024
Qualificazione dati
Modello Unico di dichiarazione Ambientale MUD ISPRA - Catasto rifiuti (http://www.catasto-rifiuti.isprambiente.it).
National, Regional
2010-2022
Qualificazione indicatore
The indicator measures the quantity of special waste co-incinerated in production plants, partially or completely replacing traditional fuels. The information is provided disaggregated by the different types of waste, specifically hazardous special waste and non-hazardous special waste, and is broken down by different regional contexts. The data source is derived from the information contained in the **Modello Unico di Dichiarazione Ambientale** (Single Environmental Declaration Model), submitted by the entities identified in Article 189, paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree 152/2006, to the territorially competent Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Handicrafts, and Agriculture.
In 2022, over 1.8 million tons of special waste were recovered in co-incineration plants. Compared to 2021, the quantities of energy recovered remained essentially stable, showing a slight decrease of about one thousand tons (-0.1%) (Table 1). The national plant infrastructure consists of 296 operational plants; of these, 250 process more than 100 tons per year of waste, while the remaining 46 use small quantities of waste exclusively for the recovery of thermal/electrical energy required for their production cycle (Table 2).
The quantity of special waste directed to energy recovery in 2022 shows a decrease of 18.5% compared to 2010, corresponding to 420 thousand tons, indicating a downward trend (Table 3).
Dati
Table 1: Quantity of special waste used as an energy source (R1) in Italy, by region
ISPRA
Table 2: Energy recovery plants by region (2022)
ISPRA
Table 3: Quantity of special waste used as an energy source (R1) in Italy
ISPRA
Figure 1: Quantity of special waste used as an energy source (R1)
ISPRA
The regional overview highlights that the majority of special waste is recovered in the northern regions (75.4% of the total); followed by the central regions with 12.8% and the southern regions with 11.8%. The regional comparison for the years 2021-2022 shows more significant increases in the quantities of co-incinerated waste in Puglia (39 thousand tons, +64.1%), Emilia-Romagna (33 thousand tons, +10.7%), Friuli Venezia Giulia (over 3 thousand tons, +2%), Veneto (about 900 tons, +0.4%), and Trentino Alto Adige (about 800 tons, +2.7%). On the other hand, there is a decline in the quantities of waste recovered for energy in Lombardy (40 thousand tons, -7.5%), Liguria (over 8 thousand tons, -33.1%), Molise (over 7 thousand tons, -30.8%), Calabria (about 6 thousand tons, -13.5%), Sicily (about 5 thousand tons, -8.4%), Umbria (over 4 thousand tons, -2.6%), Marche (about 4 thousand tons, -10.7%), Lazio (almost 3 thousand tons, -19.3%), Tuscany (over 1 thousand tons, -4.5%), Sardinia (about 700 tons, -7.2%), and Piedmont (about 100 tons, -0.1%) (Figure 1).