Author(s)

F. Pirlone, I. Spadaro

Abstract

Today the theme of waste appears to be one of the priorities at the urban level. Every citizen produces about 1 kg of waste per-capita per day, and this value is expected to grow. To speak of sustainability for this field, it means to have a new approach to solve this emergency and make the waste a resource. The objective of this paper is to present the current situation regarding the EU and Italian legislation and the existing tools aimed at sustainable waste management. About laws, the Waste Directive (2008) is important because it introduces the concept of prevention in the production of waste as one of the primary objectives. In particular, the strategy of waste management should foresee the reduction of the quantity and the hazard level of waste in a perspective of sustainable development. This theme also appears transverse to other priority urban aspects such as tourism, energy, transport. Therefore, the developed analysis will be addressed not only to the specific topic of waste but also its possible interactions. Among the possible dedicated tools, the Environmental Action Plan (set specifically for the waste) and the plans/programs proposed by the EU can be very important. At the Italian level, there are few examples of these tools. In particular, in this paper, starting from ongoing research in the Mediterranean area, will propose an “Urban Waste Management Plan”, as a reference tool for the waste management, where the management term considers different phases (collection, transportation, disposal and recovery/valorization). This plan should take into account the environmental, economic and social aspects and the characteristics of each city. Moreover, when fully operational, it will have to integrate with the other urban and regional planning tools towards a sustainable and participatory governance for cities that are really smart.

Keywords

legislation and tools waste management, governance, sustainability, urban waste management plan