The annual ISPRA report on Special Waste, i.e. waste from agricultural and agro-industrial activities, was presented on 26 May; demolition, construction and excavation activities; industrial, artisanal, commercial, service processes and the same waste recovery and disposal activities.
Overall, in Italy in 2018 (reference year of the Report) about 152 million tons of waste were produced (+ 3.7% compared to the previous year) of which 94% were hazardous and 6% non-hazardous. Both the start-up to recovery and the start-up to disposal of this waste increased (by 4% and 4.5% respectively). Northern Italy is confirmed as the area with the highest recovery rate (53%) waste managed at national level. As types of substances recovered, inorganics (38.4%, consisting mainly of materials resulting from construction/demolition activities), metals (13.8%) and staff (7.4% of the workforce). The main amount of hazardous waste comes from manufacturing (37.1% of the total, mainly metallurgy, chemicals/pharmaceuticals, refining of petroleum products, manufacture of metal products) and the waste treatment sector (33.7%).
This type of data (percentage of start-up to the disposal/recovery of waste managed at national level) is of primary importance at the level of LCA analysis to determine on a statistical basis the potential environmental impact of waste recovery/disposal systems produced at the various stages of the life cycle.