Waste management process in Italy: GrandAmbiente S.r.l. case study

The basis of this study is the detailed analysis of the waste management process in Italy, with insights into the national and European Union regulations that define the concept of waste and all phases of the management system for all actors involved. Waste management represents one of the main global challenges, which may affect human health, environmental equilibrium and safety; for the growing global concerns about environment pollution, implementing an efficient waste management system has become one of the purposes of major international organizations and agreements. Considering an increase in global population and production by large industries, the amount of waste generated is rising, so an efficient waste management system reduces the impact of human activities on the environment through the creation of a circular economy. During the last decades, the European Union has issued a strict regulatory framework, dominated by the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/CE, aimed at favouring reuse and recycle practices rather than disposal and promoting extended producer responsibility and polluter-pays principles. In this context, Italy has made significant progress thanks to the implementation of international norms, particularly with the Environmental Code D. Lgs. 152/2006. The thesis project aims to define what products can be considered as waste, provide an overview of the various regulations, clarify how a waste management process should be carried out considering laws, focus on the numerous actions and documentation required for the actors in the waste industry, and what are the benefits of performing a correct waste management system. Furthermore, the case study’s purpose is to present a real-life testimony of how a compliant waste management process can be efficiently undertaken. To achieve these objectives, for the development of the first chapter, was conducted a meticulous research and analysis of current applicable national and international regulations; while the second chapter is a review of the official literature on the subject covered by this project and the last chapter reports the process carried out and real documents used by an intermediary and transportation company. The present work is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter is presented an overview of the European Union and Italian regulation framework, highlighting challenges and difficulties faced by Italy to comply with European Union norms, then there is an explanation of how to correclty classify waste, which are the producer options and obligations, and how transportation phase must occur. In addition, the analysis has been settled on the Waste Identification Form, which is the most important document that must travel with the waste from the beginning to the end, must be correctly filled in, registered and kept in compliance with the very strict laws. Finally, a mention of traceability is made, describing the three documents used to guarantee it: Waste Identification Form, Single Environmental Declaration Form and R.E.N.T.Ri. system. The second chapter details all the financial, social and environmental advantages that a correct waste management system leads to, both for waste industry actors and for the overall population. Lastly, the third chapter is about GrandAmbiente S.r.l., a transportation and intermediary company, where I worked for 10 months as an administrative clerk. Is given an explanation of all the stages required for an efficient waste management process carried out by the entity with a practical approach, supporting the case with the documentation received by the company and detailing the process step-by-step. Furthermore, are pointed out the differences between the process for non-hazardous waste and hazardous waste.