Investing in Treviso and Belluno. An ecological excellence of the two provinces

The primacy of Treviso and Belluno in waste management

The positioning of the provinces of Treviso and Belluno with regard to the main objectives of the 2030 Agenda has already been covered under this heading (see the article “The 2030 Agenda in the provinces of Treviso and Belluno”).

Here, we intend to refer to a record that the two provinces enjoy in environmental matters: waste management and, in particular, the separate collection of urban waste.

According to the latest official ISPRA data for 2023, the Veneto region is the first in Italy with a share of waste separation compared to the total waste collected of 77.7%. But within the region itself, the share of the province of Treviso stands out even more with ’89.1%, followed by that of Belluno equal to 85.8%. The result of these two provinces also represents 1° and 3° place at a national level respectively.

But there is more. The municipality of Treviso is also the first in Italy among the provincial capital municipalities with ’84.5% of separate waste collection, while Vedelago (TV) leads the national ranking of municipalities over 15,000 inhabitants and Possagno that of the smallest municipalities (under 5,000 inhabitants).

And therefore an absolute record of our territory and which has lasted practically for a few years, that is, since the separate collection of urban waste has spread almost everywhere. But such flattering positioning is even more significant if we take into account that our country is also first in Europe and Europe is first in the world in this field. Therefore, although we do not have detailed data for the different areas of the world, we can assume an absolute primacy of our two provinces at a global level.

This excellence cannot be considered only a curiosity or a self-referential requirement of virtuous behavior, but must be framed in the more general context of the waste collection and recycling process, i.e. as the first phase of the broader circular economy system: a development path sustainable that allows waste to be reduced as much as possible and at the same time to increase the raw material used to be used to create new products, thus saving new raw material. This is an innovative system in antithesis to that of the linear economy, still relevant today, but very damaging to our future in the future.

Indeed, with the circular economy it is possible to:

• save money on waste disposal, which is becoming a very difficult and expensive operation, if it is to guarantee the healthiness of people and the ecology of the land;
• save on the cost of new products that use existing and recycled raw materials;
• reduce existing production processes for the production of materials, with a corresponding contraction in the resulting greenhouse gas emissions, which are so harmful to global warming;
• reduce the consumption of new materials, which are increasingly scarce in nature today and are already widely exploited beyond the limits of their regeneration, with the risk of their complete exhaustion in the future.

As can be seen, these are enormous benefits, decisive for our very survival and that of future generations. Being the first, therefore, is essential in this field and this stimulates the prospective development of our economy too.

The development of the circular economy

Our meritorious record, however, is not the arrival, but only the starting point. Making an excellent separate collection of waste is essential to start a long journey backwards which leads to saving the finished product already used from disposal, but then this must be broken down into the different materials that constitute it to be subsequently recycled (with some possible transformation), as a secondary raw material, in a new product instead of the virgin raw material.

This is the real challenge of the circular economy, as this process is very difficult and we are not yet very prepared in similar operations, given that up to now we have only perfected linear production processes. Obviously, many solutions already exist, but they are still little tested and not widespread on a large scale.

In fact the use of secondary raw materials in the production of new products is limited for Italy, according to official statistics, to a modest 20% of the total materials employed. But if our country is also a leader in these recycling operations, let alone Europe and the other countries of the world!

It’s truly an unsustainable situation for our entire planet. Therefore it is important that the virtuous and widespread behavior of our separate waste collection also extends to the complete recycling of the materials themselves, up to their total reuse in new products.

So, a new profitable direction for investing in Treviso and Belluno turns out to be precisely that of the use of new capital to produce secondary raw materials drawing from the vast container of used products saved from disposal. It is about doing more research and innovation in existing production processes and also about starting new start-ups specialized in the recycling of industrial products from many different sectors.

Translated by Agnese Berti

Intern at the Chamber of Commerce of Treviso – Belluno|Dolomites