Lombardy: waste management, Ri.circo.lo. tender for local authorities opens on October 1st.

The Ri.circo.lo call for applications will open on 1 October. aimed at local authorities (Municipalities, Unions of Municipalities, Mountain Communities, Provinces and Metropolitan Cities) and dedicated to the prevention of waste production and the implementation of waste collection systems aimed at increasing material recovery. Applications may be submitted until November 12.

“It is a notice long awaited by the mayors – declared Giorgio Maione, regional councilor for the Environment and Climate – separate waste collection in Lombardy is at 73.2%, material and energy recovery reaches 85%. We are well beyond European standards, but we want to improve further by investing in innovation and prevention. Producing less waste and promoting its recirculation means creating a positive impact at a local level”.

“We also finance innovative projects, waste collection systems in water, mobile ecological islands to collect particular categories at home and systems to prevent the production of waste in canteens and reduce food waste” – added Maione – “we listened to the needs of local authorities”.

The initiative aims to promote sustainable development, determining positive impacts on the environment, as the financed projects must achieve the prevention of waste production and/or an increase in their recycling, with a consequent reduction in CO2 emissions . The measure also determines the reduction of waste production through the implementation of methods that allow acting 'upstream' of the waste production itself, modifying the production of goods and consumption patterns and guaranteeing the development of clean technologies.

The measure includes four lines of financing:

– Financing line 1 – “Infrastructure for waste prevention: hubs and solidarity stores”: 2.000.000 euros for the creation or expansion of HUBs or solidarity stores for the collection and recovery of food surpluses;

– Financing line 2 – “Infrastructure for waste prevention: reuse centres”: 3.000.000 euros for the creation or expansion of reuse centres;

– Financing line 3 – “Waste prevention”: 1.000.000 euros for projects aimed at reducing waste production in canteens, by reducing the use of disposable tableware and disposable packaging, thanks to the installation of beverage and non-food product dispensers (such as detergents), the use of reusable tableware and functional equipment to increase and encourage such use (such as professional dishwashers). The line of financing also concerns projects aimed at reducing the production of food waste, thanks to the use of functional equipment for the conservation and transport of foodstuffs;

– Financing line 4 – “Implementation of collection”: 4.000.000 euros for community composting and related civil works and local composting plants and related civil works.

Floating waste collection systems in waterways and lakes will also be financed through technological devices, in order to reduce waste dispersed in the environment and to encourage its introduction into material recovery plants from an economic perspective. circular.

Also included are the collection systems for particular categories of waste, in addition to the fractions whose separate collection is mandatory by law, to be used for recycling and to prevent littering.

This category also includes the Mobile Environmental Centers and the Mobile Ecological Islands to increase the separate collection in the area of ​​particular categories of waste, in addition to the fractions whose separate collection is mandatory by law. These centers must have the characteristics of being transportable across the territory without the need to carry out civil, building and masonry works for their operation.