WASTE RECOVERY: Recycling and Waste to Energy

European Union is firmly determined to establish, within the different Countries which belong to it, a recycling society. This is a big challenge to face, because waste management systems in Europe are often still based on traditional options, as landfill or incineration with scarce energy recovery. This situation requires a very severe effort, from political, managerial, technical, social and economical points of view. However, it appears as the only solution to make European development sustainable. The Summer School “WASTE RECOVERY: Recycling and Waste to Energy” focused the attention on these considerations, inviting in Rimini, from 25 to 30 June 2007, some of the main experts, at Italian and European level, of the different aspects related to waste management, within which: - management strategies and guidelines; - regulations and law definitions; - eco-design of products; - technologies for material recovery (composting and recycling of different waste types, with a particular attention to ELV – End of Life Vehicles); - technologies for energy recovery; - assessment of impacts from different treatment and disposal processes (LCA, environmental monitoring); - related economical effects. The main lectures given at the Summer School converged in the present book, resulting in a description of the different perspectives from which the complex situation of waste management can be observed, integrating the different disciplinary expertises. The content includes also some of the results obtained so far by LITCAR (whose acronym means: Integrated Laboratory Technologies and Environmental Control in Waste Life Cycle), which is included in the Hi-Tech Network, co-funded by Emilia Romagna Region (Northern Italy). The present book can represent a reference mark for students, researchers, technicians, professionals and local administrators dealing with this field