The city of Parma, Italy, has achieved a recycling rate of 72 per cent in four years, Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) announced yesterday (20 June).
Residual waste (waste sent to landfill or incineration) reduced by a staggering 59 per cent, from 283 kilogrammes (kg) per capita to 117kg per capita between 2012 and 2016.
ZWE’s case study on the city of Parma has been published to highlight how ‘political will and citizen involvement’ made it possible to ‘radically reduce residual waste, create jobs and save the taxpayers money’. Parma is ZWE’s seventh case study of successful transitions towards zero waste.
Parma, with 190,284 residents, had a ‘stagnated’ recycling rate of around 45 per cent for at least three years. However, a citizens-led initiative in 2012 brought in a zero waste plan to transform waste policies.
The new plan copied and improved on what was already working well in other towns in the zero waste network; intensive kerbside collections and pay-as-you-throw systems, together with educational resources. The system was kept flexible to accommodate for further improvements.
The new collection system is more labour intensive, with an increase in the number of waste collector jobs from 77 to 121 and additional indirect jobs. Yet, ZWE estimate that the new system has saved the city €453,736 compared to the former system.
By the end of 2016, Parma aims to be generating less than 100kg of residual waste per person and to have achieved a recycling rate of 80 per cent. The city’s ultimate aim is to transition to zero waste altogether.
The case study will be presented as evidence for a target on residual waste per capita in Brussels tomorrow (22 June) by the Councillor for Environment of the city of Parma, Gabriele Folli, at the conference Towards Zero Waste Cities: How local authorities can apply waste prevention policies, taking place at the Committee of the Regions. It is hoped that it confirms that ZWE’s proposals for the Circular Economy package can be achieved in very little time.
Joan Marc Simon, Director of ZWE said: “Some spend their time finding excuses not to deliver in 2030, others like the city of Parma prove that a target of 70 per cent recycling and 100kg residual waste per capita is achievable in less than five years.”
More information and the Parma case study is available at ZWE’s website.
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
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