Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Material and energy recovery in integrated waste management system

– An Italian case study on the quality of MSW data
A. Bianchini, M. Pellegrini, C. Saccani ⇑
DIEM, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper analyses the way numerical data on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) quantities are recorded,
Received 20 September 2010 processed and then reported for six of the most meaningful Italian Districts and shows the difficulties
Accepted 15 March 2011 found during the comparison of these Districts, starting from the lack of homogeneity and the fragmen-
Available online 12 April 2011
tation of the data indispensable to make this critical analysis. These aspects are often ignored, but data
certainty are the basis for serious MSW planning.
In particular, the paper focuses on overall Source Separation Level (SSL) definition and on the influence
that Special Waste (SW) assimilated to MSW has on it. An investigation was then necessary to identify
new parameters in place of overall SSL. Moreover, these parameters are not only important for a waste
management system performance measure, but are fundamental in order to design and check manage-
ment plan and to identify possible actions to improve it.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Italy acknowledged the European guidelines regarding munici-
pal, special and packaging waste (respectively 91/156/CEE, 91/689/
CEE and 94/36/CEE) with the Law Decree 22/1997, called the ‘‘Ron-
chi Decree’’. In the last ten years the legislature has upgraded and
integrated the Ronchi decree, until the new Law Decrees 152/2006
and 4/2008, but the general structure is still the same.
Ronchi Decree defined and organized all waste collection cycles.
The first important initiative was the classification of waste. The
decree introduced the differentiation (Table 1) between Municipal
Solid Waste (MSW) and Special Waste (SW).
Municipal authorities and Districts organize and plan MSW col-
lection and consider the entire waste cycle. SW, instead, is gener-
ated by industrial, commercial or craft activities: each individual
producer belonging to these categories is obliged to declare the
type, quantity and disposal procedure of the waste produced and
is responsible for its disposal. In fact, SW producers can choose
their waste destination: the possible choices are self-disposal,
third-party disposal or exportation. MSW and SW production in
Italy in 2005 are shown in Table 2 (APAT and ONR, 2007).
However, the distinction made by Ronchi Decree between MSW
and SW is not so clear. It is, in fact, possible to dispose of SW within
the MSW flow if the SW is non-hazardous and if it is comparable
with MSW in quantity and quality: this kind of SW (i.e. SW that
is non-hazardous and comparable with MSW in quantity and
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0512093404; fax: +39 0512093411.
E-mail address: cesare.saccani@unibo.it (C. Saccani).
quality and that is disposed within the MSW flow) is called ‘‘assim-
ilated waste’’.
The most important goal of the Ronchi Decree was to increase
Separate Collection (SC) of MSW. SC is defined as ‘‘every collection
suitable for assembling MSW in homogeneous product fractions’’,
but Ronchi Decree does not clearly specify which collections be-
long to the category. The Districts therefore decide for themselves
which collections can be considered as separate ones. For example,
some Districts do not recognize at all bulky waste and/or multi-
material collections as part of SC. Law Decree 152/2006 tries to
solve this problem by introducing the idea that a separate collec-
tion could be thus named only if the collected waste is ‘‘really sent
to recovery’’, but this new definition introduces more uncertainties
about bulky waste, multi-material and other kinds of separate
collections.
Ronchi Decree also foresaw that the Source Separation Level
(SSL), that can be generally defined as the ratio between SC and
MSW, in Italy had to reach the goal of 35% by 2003. In 1997 SSL
was 11.5% (ANPA, 1999). This goal was then moved to 2006, but
the result was still far from being achieved: in fact, in 2006 SSL
was 25.6% (APAT and ONR, 2007). The goals for the year 2008
and 2012 were fixed, respectively, at 45% and 65%. SSL is the only
parameter indicated in Italian legislation as reference for SC
evaluation.
Ronchi Decree instituted the National waste observatory (in
Italian Osservatorio Nazionale sui Rifiuti, ONR). The ONR is a national
surveillance organism that supervises local (i.e. Region, District,
Municipality) waste management and prepares an annual report
about Italian waste management. Law 93/2001 instituted the Dis-
trict waste observatory (in Italian Osservatorio Provinciale sui Rifiuti,

0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2011.03.012
 A. Bianchini et al. / Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073 2067

Table 1 of SC. So, APAT and ONR (2007) should be used only for a general
Definitions of MSW and SW, according to Law Decree 22/1997 (Ronchi Decree). analysis of the Italian waste management system, because it is a
MSW SW limited instrument to match results of waste management systems
Household waste, also bulky waste Agricultural and agro- adopted by different Districts.
Street sweeping alimentary activities waste A general analysis of OPR annual reports was conducted to
Every kind of waste found on streets or in Demolition and construction overcome these difficulties. An initial screening allowed to not
public areas activities waste consider as a source of relevant information the Districts wherein
Gardens, parks or cemetery green area Industry waste
waste Craft activities waste
an OPR was still non existing or did not produce a report: in some
Cemetery waste Commercial activities waste of these cases, there are no information at all about District MSW
Non-hazardous SW comparable with MSW Service industry waste collection. Therefore, an analysis upon data quality and quantity
in quantity and quality Waste collection and disposal was conducted over the remaining OPR reports.
activities waste
MSW collections of six significant Italian Districts (Bergamo,
Health activities waste
Old or obsolete machinery and Bologna, Brescia, Milan, Padua, Turin) were deeply analyzed.
equipment Firstly, these Districts were chosen because of their data quality
Motor vehicles, trailers or and quantity: in particular, were excluded the reports wherein dif-
similar ferentiation of waste collected fractions is not clear (i.e. when there
Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)
is no distinction about fractions composition of a multi-material
separate collection) and wherein sources were not clearly and
completely indicated. Secondary, these Districts have heteroge-
Table 2 neous geographical characteristics and should well represent dif-
MSW and SW production in Italy in 2005 (APAT and ONR, 2007). ferent Italian realities. Finally, these Districts had reach some
Waste classification Quantity (ton) Percentage (%) relevant results with regard to SSL, that is higher than 25% for all
MSW
the six Districts. SW analysis was not conducted because of SW
31,663,548 23 management is substantially separated from MSW management,
SW
that is the focus of the paper.
Non-hazardous 101,619,946 73 Six Districts analysis started from SSL calculation method, that
Hazardous 5,906,174 4 is normally fixed by the Regions (Table 3). Some Regions make a
Total 139,189,668 100 distinction between separate collections mainly sent for recovery
or for disposal. This distinction is closely connected in particular
with two separate collections, bulky and multi-material waste: rel-
evant discrepancies between the Districts that consider these
OPR) to realize a surveillance network model and to support the
items or not in the SC amounts can be foresaw.
supervisor function of the ONR. Every OPR write an annual report
An homogenization process on SC composition is necessary to
about District waste management, in particular summarizing the
compare six Italian Districts performances. On the basis on Decree
MSW and SW production, collection, treatment and final disposal.
152/2006, only recovered fractions should be computed in the SC
MSW and SW accounting should be guaranteed by the environ-
amount. So, not only bulky waste and multi-material collections,
mental declaration model (in Italian Modello Unico di Dichiarazione
that are characterized, besides by heterogeneity, by a low recovery
ambientale, MUD). This document is drawn up by the Municipal
efficiency (OPR Bologna, 2008), but all homogeneous waste frac-
Authorities with regards to MSW, while all SW producers draw
tion (i.e. paper, glass, metals, wood) should be computed by
up their own document. Actually, over the years, some categories
excluding the unrecoverable fraction. Moreover, this definition ex-
of non-hazardous SW producers were exempted. At the present
cludes from SC amount separate collections like Waste of Electric
time, the obligation is limited to industrial, craft and waste recov-
and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) separate collection or household
ery and disposal activities that employ more than ten workers,
hazardous waste separate collection. These collections do not re-
while other categories (like agricultural, commercial and services)
cover the collected fraction, that are send to disposal, but benefit
are excluded. If the general Italian industrial enterprise size is con-
both environment and waste collection quality. For example,
sidered (ASIA, 2008), the result is that only 17.2% of the industrial
household fluorescent lamp collection is fundamental not only
enterprises, which employ 53.3% of industrial workers, are obliged
for the correct and safe disposal of this kind of waste, but because
to present the MUD.
The aim of the paper is to analyse the way numerical data on
MSW quantities are recorded, processed and then reported by Table 3
the waste observatories to verify the quality of the Italian waste Different calculation methods for SSL.
management informative system.
Region Districts SSL definition
Emilia- Bologna Ratio between the sum of separate
2. Material and methods Romagna collections (including multi-
material and bulky waste) and MSW
Lombardy Bergamo Ratio between the sum of separate
Every year ONR publishes an annual report that analyses MSW
Brescia collections (except from bulky waste)
and SW production and management in Italy. ONR collects data Milan plus the recovered bulky waste and
about MSW and SW from different and heterogeneous sources (like MSW
Regional and District Environmental Agency, Regions, Districts, Piedmont Turin Ratio between the sum of mono-
OPR, Municipality) by questionnaires and from MUD declarations. material separate collections (except
from bulky waste), plus multi-material
APAT and ONR Report (2007) explicitly declares the incomplete-
separate collections (multiplied by a
ness of data collected from a relevant number of Districts, OPR reduction coefficient) plus the
and Municipalities; moreover, some Districts and Municipalities recovered bulky waste and MSW
do not answer at all at the ONR questionnaires. Therefore, the Re- Veneto Padua Ratio between the sum of separate
collections (including domestic
port underlines the difficulties found during SC evaluation, because
composting) and MSW
Districts consider or not some separate collected fractions as a part
2068 A. Bianchini et al. / Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073

it produces a consequent reduction of MSW risks (Apisitpuvakul 2003). Based on some very rough estimations, the share of waste
et al., 2008; Voulvoulis et al., 2005). Similarly, household battery generated by households in total MSW collected in European Un-
collection has a positive impact on the Organic Fraction of Munici- ion is about 82% between 1998 and 2001. Special waste assimila-
pal Solid Waste (OFMSW) collection by assuring an higher quality tion is a general European phenomenon that is sometimes still
of its recovery (Gomez, 1998; Jones and Farrell, 2009). So, actually, unknown.
advantages occur even without or with partial recovery. In Italy assimilation is not easily measurable because some of
ONR, for example, consider household hazard waste separate the SW producers that follow the assimilation process are not ob-
collection in the amount of SC; the authors agree with this choice, liged to present the MUD form and also because of different regio-
because all separate collections (including bulky and multi-mate- nal legislation regarding this topic. Only few studies (Table 5) are
rial waste) are suitable for being included in SC (as in Emilia- available and they generally involve restricted areas; however,
Romagna, Table 3), without distinctions regarding the destination household waste fractions seems to be lower (about 50% of
of the collected waste, because separate collected waste destina- MSW) than European mean value. So, assimilation phenomenon
tion does not affect the collection, but rather the recovery and re- is relevant in Italy and its effect on MSW amount and on SSL calcu-
cycle processes or the safe disposal for MSW. The definition ‘‘every lation must be considered.
collection suitable for selecting MSW and then addressing them to
recovery or right and safe disposal (only for hazardous waste)’’ is
3. Results
proposed by the authors and seems to be more appropriate for
SC definition. Thus, SSL should be simply defined as the ratio be-
Table 6 summarizes what can be inferred from annual OPR re-
tween SC in tons per year and MSW collection in tons per year. This
ports of the six Districts if the differences in SSL definition and
criteria was used by the authors to homogenized data on six Dis-
SC composition are not considered, while Table 7 shows SSL after
tricts SC evaluation.
data homogenization process. The effect of considering or not
An assimilation phenomenon exists among SW producers. Table
bulky waste and multi-material collections in the amount of SC
4 shows the household waste fraction present in the MSW pro-
generates relevant differences: in particular, Bergamo and Brescia
duced in developed European Countries (European Commission,
Districts SSL increases, respectively, of 13.7% and 21.9%; also per
capita annual SC increases, respectively, of 16.0% and 21.7%. There-
fore, if bulky waste and multi-material collections are considered
Table 4 in the SC amount, Brescia District reach the 35% SSL goal fixed by
Household waste fraction present in the MSW produced in developed European the Ronchi Decree. So, the difficulty in analyzing and comparing
Countries. Italian District performances can be easily understood.
Country Year MSW MSW by MSW by household Then, effect of assimilation on MSW amount and on SSL calcu-
(kg ton/ household (kg ton/ percentage (%) lation must be considered. Fig. 1 shows the percentage variation in
year) year) MSW production in Italy referred to the year 2000. MSW produc-
Germany 2000 45,641 35,544 77.9 tion is compared with two of the main parameters related to waste
Spain 2000 26,505 23,885 90.1 production (Mazzanti and Zoboli, 2008; Sokka et al., 2007): house-
France 2000 31,213 26,313 84.3
hold expenditure (consumption on goods and services, including
Italy 2000 28,959 Unknown Unknown
Netherland 2001 9750 8595 88.2 interest payments made on non-mortgage debt and transfer pay-
Finland 2000 2500 1000 40.0 ments to government or social services) and Gross Domestic Prod-
Sweden 2000 3800 Unknown Unknown uct (GDP).
United 1999 29,332 25,147 85.7
Starting from 2003, MSW production increased without follow-
Kingdom
Norway 2000 2755 1452 52.7
ing consumer trends: in this period, correlation index between
Switzerland 2000 4730 Unknown Unknown MSW production and the two socio-economical parameters de-
creased. One of the likely causes of this incongruence is the assim-

Table 5
Literature about household waste fraction present in the MSW produced in Italy.

Source Year Area MSW (kg/inhab/year) MSW by household MSW by household

(kg/inhab/year) percentage (%)
Ravenna District (2006) 2002 Ravenna municipality 735 368 50.0
Reggio Emilia District (2004) 2003 Reggio Emilia municipality 717 365 50.9
Fancello and Valerio (2006) 2005 Some Italian municipalities 538 239 44.4
Turin District (2005) 2005 Municipality > 5000 inhabitant 525 278 52.9

Table 6
SSL as seen from the annual OPR reports.

Source OPR Bergamo OPR Bologna OPR Brescia OPR Milan ORR Veneto OPR Turin
(2007) (2008) (2007) (2007) (2007) (2007)
District Bergamo Bologna Brescia Milan Padua Turin
Year 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006
Population 1,044,487 954,682 1,193,387 3,887,409 897,676 2,248,777
Per capita annual SC (kg/inhabitant/year) 224 174 212 227 275 222
Per capita annual MSW production (kg/ 449 593 618 511 500 533
inhabitant/year)
SSL (%) 49.8 29.4 34.2 44.5 55.1 41.0
 A. Bianchini et al. / Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073 2069

Table 7 On the other hand, assimilation may also influence SC: about
SSL after a data homogenization process. this topic, literature is very poor (Reggio Emilia District, 2004).
District Bergamo Bologna Brescia Milan Padua Turin Fig. 2 shows how SC follows a substantially constant increasing
trend starting from 2000 to 2006 in Italy. Assimilation therefore
Per capita 260 174 258 247 275 224
annual SC has no effect on the whole Italian SC trend, even if local influence
(kg/inhabitant/year) (i.e. District level) could be observed. Fig. 2 shows the SSL percent-
Per capita 449 593 618 511 500 533 age increase. Generally, the MSW production trend increases
annual MSW
yearly due to population and consumption growth. So, if SC con-
production
(kg/inhabitant/year)
stantly increases, SSL will increase too, but less than SC, because
SSL (%) 56.6 29.4 41.7 48.3 55.1 41.9 MSW production is not a constant value. In fact, as shown in
Fig. 2, SSL increase is always lower than SC in terms of relative
growth.
The dotted line in Fig. 3 reports the expected trend of the differ-
ilation process: the presence of different kinds of waste not made
ence between the percentage increase of SC and of SSL. The ex-
by household makes MSW composition more heterogeneous and
pected trend is a linear interpolation of the percentage increase
less directly related with personal consumption (measured by
difference between SC and SSL from 2000 to 2003.
household expenditure and GDP). The assimilation process also re-
Starting from 2003, the real curve (black line in Fig. 3) diverges
sults in an increase in the amount of MSW recorded.
from the expected one. This is caused by the sudden increase in

Fig. 1. MSW production, household expenditure and gross domestic product trend from 2000 to 2006 in Italy. Data adapted from APAT and ONR (2007).

Fig. 2. Percentage SC and SSL from 2000 to 2006 in Italy. The year 2000 is the point of reference.
2070 A. Bianchini et al. / Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073

Fig. 3. Percentage difference between SC and SSL. The expected trend is shown with a dotted line.

Table 8
from feed and food chain field, where the institution of interna-
Summarize of quantities used in Fig. 1–3. tional standard (ISO, 2007) and national experiences (Bertolini
et al., 2006; Regattieri et al., 2007) allowed to achieve high results
Year SC MSW production SSL GDP Household
(kg ton/ (kg ton/year) (%) (mil US$) expenditure
both in product quality and safety.
year) (€/month) Recently, the European Union reviewed the waste directive.
Among items of note, SW traceability is one of the measures to
2000 4181 28,959 14.4 1,073,960 2353
2001 5115 29,409 17.4 1,079,330 2395 be adopted by Countries to warrant human and environmental
2002 5739 29,864 19.2 1,077,182 2405 health (European Parliament, 2008). Previously, in Italy, Decree
2003 6339 30,034 21.1 1,084,700 2405 4/2008 set up a national data processing system for waste trace-
2004 7067 31,150 22.7 1,093,291 2428
ability to be integrated with the current informative system; how-
2005 7697 31,677 24.3 1,091,143 2426
2006 8377 32,523 25.8 1,107,253 2461
ever, up to date this system exists only in writing. New comparison
parameters should be found while waiting for this powerful
instrument.
Per capita SC can be a relevant parameter to evaluate a waste
MSW production (Fig. 1). So, if SC increase is constant, while the
management system. Moreover, per capita SC divided by waste
MSW increase is not constant, the final result is to underestimate
categories (Table 9) contains useful information on the character-
the whole Italian SSL (Fig. 3), that is defined as the ratio between
istics of the waste management system.
SC and MSW. In Table 8 the absolute value of quantities used in
By analyzing Table 9 it is immediately clear that comparable
Figs. 1–3 are summarized.
results in terms of per capita SC (i.e. Bergamo, Brescia and Padua
Districts) could be achieved by different strategies: for example,
4. Discussion Padua District activated a relevant multi-material collection

Assimilation process is very relevant and does not allow to use

SSL as a reliable parameter for different waste management perfor- Table 9
Per capita SC referred to defined categories (kg/year/inhabitants).
mances, even after the homogenization process seen before. A pos-
sible solution is assimilated SW or, more generally, MSW District Bergamo Bologna Brescia Milan Padua Turin
traceability. Traceability can be defined as ‘‘the ability to trace Paper and 61 33 56 57 53 74
the history, application or location of that which is under consider- cardboard
ation (ISO, 2005)’’. Documental methodologies and/or innovative Wood 16 10 19 15 0 22
Plastic 12 4 9 16 13 6
technological systems are the means to achieve waste traceability
Glass and inert 37 16 28 42 22 0
objectives. The MUD is an example of traditional documental materials
methodology; these methodologies are intrinsically founded on Metals 7 4 5 5 0 3
waste chain actors correctness. So, if connections between national Aluminum 1 0 1 0 0 0
and/or international organized crime and illegal waste trafficking Food waste 42 17 18 49 73 47
Green waste 39 23 54 23 58 23
are considered (Council of the European Union, 2005; IMPEL, Bulky waste 32 14 53 26 2 7
2006), it is clear that technology and innovation must help conven- Multi-material 4 39 1 9 42 34
tional checking means not only to increase quality data, but pri- collections
marily to prevent and identify criminal actions. Waste Others (like 8 13 15 5 13 7
battery, toner,
traceability can be developed by integration of systems like Radio
fluorescent
Frequency Identification (RFID), General Packet Radio Service lamps)
(GPRS) or Global Positioning System (GPS) with documental sys-
Total 260 174 258 247 275 224
tems. An effective example of traceability means integration comes
 A. Bianchini et al. / Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073 2071

(42 kg/year/inhabitants) and did not substantially activate a bulky
waste collection (2 kg/year/inhabitants), while Bergamo and Bre-
scia Districts have a consistent bulky waste collection (32 kg/
year/inhabitants for Bergamo District, 53 kg/year/inhabitants for
Brescia District) and irrelevant multi-material collections (4 kg/
year/inhabitants for Bergamo District, 1 kg/year/inhabitants for
Brescia District).
Another fundamental parameter in evaluating a SC system is
the Interception Rate (IR). IR could be defined as the percentage
of one kind of waste that is intercepted by the related collection.
For example, IR of wood is the ratio between the SC of wood and
the wood that is present within the MSW. This last quantity could
only be estimated by product analysis of non-separated MSW. Only
some Districts carry out non-separate waste product analyses and
these are often not very detailed and precise. Non-separate waste
should be constantly overseen for real time control of the effective-
ness of the decisions made in the waste management field.
The research of reliable information on the source and compo-
sition of MSW is a key factor for Countries, both developed (Burn-
ley, 2007; Burnley et al., 2007; Chowdhury, 2009; Sokka et al.,
2007) and developing (Gidarakos et al., 2006; Naresh Kumar and
Goel, 2009). Quantity, type and source of MSW must be interpreted
and used to design and plan waste management system and to pre-
dict future trends (Daskalopoulos et al., 1998). Table 10 reports IR
of the Districts where non-separate waste product analysis is done.
Even if general guide lines have been produced (ANPA, 2000), there
is no national or regional standard about product analysis of
non-separated municipal waste. So, Table 10 is not suitable for a
direct comparison because Districts use different classification of
fines (organic or inert) or of waste categories (like paper and card-
board together or not). However, Table 10 shows that Milan and
Bologna Districts have general wide improvement margins, while
Milan district has an efficient glass and inert materials separate
collection.
Table 10
IR in Bologna and Milan Districts.
Source OPR Bologna (2008) Milan District (2006)
District Bologna (%) Milan (%)
Paper and cardboard 43.2 49.1
Wood 46.8 – case, aids wrong waste disposal that contaminates the collected
Plastics 10.5 23.2
Glass and inert materials 46.0 84.5
Metals 37.5 – These Districts do not, at present, have any idea of what the des-
Aluminum 11.7 – tination of their SC is. This fact does not allow one to make a com-
Food waste – 40.6
Green waste – –
Others parameters for District comparison concern collection
organization. Table 11 contains information about collection
methods. The drop-off collection requires the transport of un-
sorted MSW and separate collections by individuals into desig-
nated and distinct containers (like street rubbish bin), while in
the collection point system only separate collections are carried
by individuals to a single collection place; in the kerbside collec-
tion, instead, a service is provided by local authorities to collect
household waste (both separate collections and unsorted MSW)
directly at homes.
Tables 9 and 11 show that among the Districts of which this
data is known, the higher value of per capita SC are achieved by
the Districts with kerbside collection systems. This system al-
ways involves some logistical and planning complications at
the start-up, but it guarantees better results than the drop-off
collection because it increases household SC and both reduces
and allows a better management of assimilation processes (APAT
and ONR, 2007). Table 12 shows service coverage of the separate
collections.
The fact that mono-material collections are generally more dif-
fused in Italy than multi-material collections is confirmed by the
data. Moreover, data about mono-material collections service per-
centage coverage of inhabitants of paper and cardboard, glass and
inert materials, wood and green waste demonstrate that these kind
of separate collection already rooted, while food waste collection
still has a limited service coverage compared to most of the pack-
aging materials.
Once the SC system has been analyzed with the difficulties seen
above, the last analysis is to understand whether the collected
waste can be effectively sent to recycling. In other words, the eval-
uation regarding SC cannot disregard the analysis of what follows
the collection cycle. In fact, a part of what is collected will not be
suitable for recovery.
The collection system affects the selected and recovered frac-
tion. For example, Table 13 shows how glass Recovery Efficiency
(RE), that is the generally defined as the ratio between the fraction
ready to be recycled and the collected fraction, is strongly depen-
dent on SC system (COREVE, 2004): the study demonstrates that
multi-material collection reduces glass RE; in fact, the presence
of other fractions like plastics, metals or ceramics reduces glass
purity and does not allow high efficiency in the recovery processes.
Moreover, COREVE states that kerbside collection, in this specific
glass.
plete evaluation of the consequence of waste management choices.
Table 14 reports the only data that could be found about Selection
Efficiency (SE) of SC, defined as the SC fraction sent to recovery.

Table 11
SC method (D = drop-off collection, P = collection point, K = kerbside collection, ⁄ = unknown).

Source OPR Bergamo (2007) OPR Bologna (2008) OPR Brescia (2007) Milan District (2006) ORR Veneto (2007) OPR Turin (2007)
District Bergamo Bologna Brescia Milan Padua Turin
Paper and cardboard PK D DPK PK DK DK
⁄
Wood P P P – DPK
Plastics DPK D DPK PK DK DPK
Glass and inert materials DPK D DPK DPK DPK –
⁄
Metals P D P – DPK
⁄
Aluminum DP K – – –
Food waste K D DK DK DK DK
Green waste P P DP DP DPK DPK
Bulky waste K K PK K PK PK
Paper–plastics–metals D D – K – –
Glass–plastics–metals – D – – – DK
Glass–metals – – DK – DK DK
Plastics–metals – – – – – DK
2072 A. Bianchini et al. / Waste Management 31 (2011) 2066–2073

Table 12
SC service percentage coverage of inhabitants (⁄ = unknown).

Source OPR Bergamo (2007) OPR Bologna (2008) OPR Brescia (2007) Milan District (2006) ORR Veneto (2007) OPR Turin (2007)
District Bergamo Bologna Brescia Milan Padua Turin
Paper and cardboard 99.6% 97.0% 100% 99.7% 100% 100%
⁄ ⁄
Wood 88.7% 89.9% – 97.0%
⁄
Plastics 95.4% 43.0% 97.8% 95.6% 100%
⁄
Glass and inert materials 100% 85.0% 99.4% 96.6% –
⁄ ⁄
Metals 93.5% 37.5% – 95.0%
⁄
Aluminum 43.7% 17.7% – – –
Food waste 76.3% 71.0% 43.0% 96.3% 100% 96.2%
Green waste 94.7% 95.0% 94.7% 99.7% 100% 99.0%
Paper–plastics–metals 20.4% 43.0% – 24.3% – –
Glass–plastics–metals – 15.0% – – – –
Glass–metals – – 7.2% – 100% 100%
⁄
Plastics–metals – – – – –

5. Conclusions
Table 13
Glass RE dependence on SC systems.
Some possible solutions to increase information quality and
Collection system RE (%) quantity are detailed in this paper. First of all, clear definitions
Mono-material, drop-off collection 95.9 about which kinds of waste collections could be called Separate
Multi-material (glass–metals), drop-off collection 92.1 Collection (SC) and about how to compute Source Separation Level
Multi-material (glass–metals), kerbside collection 79.2
(SSL) are indispensable in both national and European contexts.
Multi-material (glass–plastics–metals), drop-off collection 64.8
A better understanding of source, quantity and type of Munici-
pal Solid Waste (MSW) is essential for effective waste manage-
ment. Useful instruments are waste traceability and a national
standard definition of the MSW product analysis. Italy lacks both
Table 14 standard and legislation in these fields: there is still no active na-
SE of SC (⁄ = unknown). tional traceability system and no national standard regarding
Source OPR Bologna OPR Milan Piedmont Council MSW product analysis, even if general guidelines about the last
(2008) (2007) (2008) point have been produced (ANPA, 2000); moreover, there are no
District Bologna Milan Turin national or regional laws that identify product analysis of non-sep-
Paper and ⁄
95% 93% arate MSW as one of the tools needed for MSW management plan-
cardboard ning and controlling.
⁄
Wood 95% 95% Finally, the paper suggests new matching parameters:
⁄
Plastics 88% 77%
⁄
Glass and inert 96% –
materials – per capita SC;
Metals ⁄
90% 95% – per capita SC referred to defined categories;
⁄ ⁄
Aluminum 90% – SC methods and percentage coverage of inhabitants;
⁄
Food waste 90% 70%
⁄ ⁄
– Selection Efficiency (SE) of SC;
Green waste 90%
Paper–plastics– 44% ⁄⁄
–
– Recovery Efficiency (RE) of SC.
metals
Glass–plastics– 93% – – Better knowledge of complete MSW cycle dynamics could allow
metals not only Italy, but many other countries, to reach the waste man-
⁄
Glass–metals – –
⁄ agement goals that are at present still far from being achieved.
Plastics–metals – –
More attention must be paid to the aspects reviewed in this paper,
which represent a fundamental means of measuring the impact of
management plans and/or new strategies on waste collection for
Table 14 shows that the multi-material collection of paper– local and national administrators.
plastics–metals organized in Bologna has some problems: its SE
is about half of all the other collections. A deeper analysis of this Acknowledgment
collection showed that the multi-material separation plants are
not appropriate for high efficiency separation of paper-plastics- This research was supported by the Italian Ministry of Instruc-
metals collection. It depends both on waste quality and technical tion, University and Research (project PRIN 2006 ‘‘Comparative
plant characteristics. There are possible planning solutions that in- analysis of strategies for material and energy recovery from
crease the separation efficiency, but they are expensive. An invest- waste’’).
ment on the side of the Bologna District could only be justified if it
was coupled with the kerbside collection system, able to produce a
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