Integrated waste management of special and municipal waste – a territorial case study

An Integrated Waste Management System must join flows, methods, and techniques of collection, treatment and disposal, in order to achieve environmental benefits, economic optimisation and social acceptability. The aim is to define, by means of the quantification of waste produced, collected, reused and disposed within the studied territory, a practical system of management of these materials. Results obtained in the Province of Mantova (Northern Italy) revealed an overall production of special waste (year 2003) of about 1 million and 137 thousands tons, of which about 74,500 tons of hazardous waste. The most important material flows are represented by the different typologies of wooden rejects, agricultural residues, construction and demolition inert debris, refuses containing asbestos, medical waste, biosolids from sewage sludge. The quantification of municipal solid waste was, on the contrary, performed directly by the local Governments (Municipalities), which must forward these data to the Provincial Waste Observatory. In 2004, the production of urban waste amounted to about 216,000 tons, about 81,000 tons of which were selectively collected. In the second step of the work, plants for waste recovery, treatment, storing and disposal were examined to determine their capacity (according to the authorisations released by the Province); these authorised capacities were compared to the waste quantities to be managed. From this comparison, a good plant capacity resulted, so that the Province can face the problem of waste produced in its territory, in a position to balance supply and demand for the present and future.