Antonio Massarutto

Material and energy recovery in integrated waste management systems: A life-cycle costing approach

A critical assumption of studies assessing comparatively waste management options concerns the constant average cost for selective collection regardless the source separation level (SSL) reached, and the neglect of the mass constraint. The present study compares alternative waste management scenarios through the development of a desktop model that tries to remove the above assumption. Several alternative scenarios based on different combinations of energy and materials recovery are applied to two imaginary areas modelled in order to represent a typical Northern Italian setting. External costs and benefits implied by scenarios are also considered. Scenarios are compared on the base of the full cost for treating the total waste generated in the area. The model investigates the factors that influence the relative convenience of alternative scenarios.

Economic aspects of thermal treatment of solid waste in a sustainable WM system

This paper offers a systematic review of the literature of the last 15 years, which applies economic analysis and theories to the issue of combustion of solid waste. Waste incineration has attracted the interest of economists in the first place concerning the comparative assessment of waste management options, with particular reference to external costs and benefits. A second important field of applied economic research concerns the market failures associated with the provision of thermal treatment of waste, that justify some deviation from the standard competitive market model. Our analysis discusses the most robust achievements and the more controversial areas. All in all, the economic perspective seems to confirm the desirability of assigning a prominent role to thermal treatments in an integrated waste management strategy. Probably the most interesting original contribution it has to offer concerns the refusal of categorical assumptions and too rigid priority ladders, emphasizing instead the need to consider site-specific circumstances that may favor one or another solution.

Municipal waste management in Italy

This chapter provides an outline of the Italian regime for managing municipal solid waste (MSW). The waste industry in Italy is undergoing a rapid process of development and modernization. This process resembles that occurring in other EU countries, in the sense that MSW collection and disposal services are evolving from essentially end-of- pipe activities, which are concerned with the environmental impact of disposal, but constrained by given quantity and quality of waste flows, towards a far more complex model, where the objectives are waste avoidance, reuse, and valorization, according to the ladder principle, as well as the principles of self-sufficiency, proximity and polluter-pays, in accordance with Dir 91/156/EEC. Waste disposal operators are no longer the only relevant actors, since the focus of waste policies has gradually shifted towards materials and commodities. MSW policies are no longer local health policies, aimed at eliminating waste from streets and households, and have entered the domain of environmental policies, focused on the allocation of scarce environmental and territorial resources.

Liberalization and Private Sector Involvement in the Water Industry: A Review of the Economic Literature

The theoretical and empirical literature on water supply and sewerage liberalization is reviewed in this paper in order to discuss the potential for market creation and private sector involvement in this sector. The analysis is framed in the “policy roadmap” developed by regulatory economics and discusses opportunities for competition in the market, unbundling, competition for the market and yardstick competition. A review of studies comparing privately and publicly managed water utilities is finally provided.

The evolution of the Italian EPR system for the management of household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Technical and economic performance in the spotlight

In this paper we analyse the Italian collective system for the management of household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and its evolution over time, following the European Directives on WEEE, which include the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The analysis focuses on the technical and economic performance of WEEE compliance organisations (consortia), as they are the key players in the Italian EPR regime. Economic results have not usually been provided in previous studies, due to the lack of available data. This study overcomes this problem by accessing the financial statements for the years 2009-2014 of all consortia. The main conclusions of the study are: The Italian EPR system barely exceeded the technical target of the first WEEE Directive (4kg per capita). Improvements are necessary to achieve the target set for 2019 by the Recast Directive. The economic performance of the Italian EPR regime improved significantly over time. The fees charged per tonne of WEEE collected decreased by almost 43% from 652 Euro per tonne in 2009 to 374 Euro per tonne in 2014, while the fees per tonne put on the market (POM) were 134 Euro in 2009 and 104 Euro in 2014. The results prove the theory which states that, competing consortia use the learning effects to reduce the contribution fees for producers rather than to increase the quantity collected. Municipalities remain the most important actor in WEEE collection operations. Consortia compensate municipalities with a reimbursement that ranges between 28 and 38 Euros per tonne collected. These repayments cover only partially their costs. Additional studies should investigate their role.

Economic Analysis of Waste Management Systems in Europe

The paper sketches the main regulatory economic issues characterizing waste management policies in the EU context. On the background, the evolution of solid waste management (SWM) policies, that has increasingly shifted the attention from end-of-pipe management (waste collection and disposal) to prevention and value-chain management. Economic issues regard in particular the evaluation of waste management options; “market failures” in the WM industry and the dimensions of general interest that require public regulation; the industrial organization of WM services and patterns of private sector involvement; the use of economic instruments and market mechanisms for achieving WM targets. These issues are rapidly presented in their theoretical implications and later discussed on the basis of the experience in EU countries.

I costi economici della siccità: il caso del Po

The economic valuation of droughts: the 2003 event in the Po basin - In the summer 2002, an exceptional drought has occurred in the Po basin, normally characterized by very abundant available resources, that have encouraged a very intensive use of water resources. In order to recover an acceptable flow, the Basin Authority has obliged upstream hydropower plants to release higher quantities and also reduced the allowed abstractions for irrigation. This study analyzes the economic impact of the event on irrigation and energy sectors; alternative scenarios are then examined, in which water is allocated to the most productive uses. The resulting total cost is significantly lower.

The dynamic effects of interactions between national regimes:towards harmonisation

The analysis of interactions, leading on from the previous chapter, has revealed the nature of potential friction between national regimes. These are not the only interactions which may be encountered. In some cases, harmonisation is a relatively natural process involving the progressive circulation of standards and technological and organisational solutions, through a number of channels of transmission. The aim of this third chapter is to develop this second form of interaction, which cannot a priori be classified regarding its positive or negative impact. Many forms of interaction exist which contribute to harmonisation, although they lie outside the institutionalised process. Even if some of these are sometimes raised by debates at the European level on common measures to be adopted, this is not even always the case. The interactions already mentioned in the previous Chapter (3), the informal and formal circulation of standards and (4) the patterns of competition in the waste collection and disposal industry belong to this category.

Efficienza e regolamentazione nei servizi pubblici locali: il caso dell'igiene urbana

Efficienza e regolamentazione nei servizi pubblici locali: il caso dell’igiene urbana (di Federico Biagi e Antonio Massarutto) - ABSTRACT: Questo articolo riprende e rielabora i risultati di uno studio che gli autori hanno svolto per conto dell’Agenzia nazionale per l’ambiente e dell’Osservatorio nazionale rifiuti, nell’ambito di un gruppo di lavoro del quale hanno fatto parte anche Roberto Fazioli, Emilio Gerelli, Marco Ricci, Loriana Zanuttigh. I risultati dello studio sono raccolti in ANPA-ONR, Rapporto sulla gestione dei rifiuti in Italia, 2001. Gli autori desiderano ringraziare gli altri membri del gruppo di lavoro, nonche Marta Geranzani, Mariella Maffini, Gianni Squitieri per le utilissime discussioni e scambi di opinioni. Le elaborazioni si sono potute avvalere dell’oscuro ma prezioso lavoro di data entry e pulizia dei dati svolto da Alfredo La Manna, Silvia Marinelli, Massimo Stafoggia. Un ringraziamento particolare all’ANPAe all’ONRper averci consentito di utilizzare alcune parti dello studio. Questo lavoro deriva da una prospettiva di ricerca comune e da una stretta collaborazione fra i due autori; la redazione del paragrafo 2 e stata curata da Antonio Massarutto, quella del paragrafo 3 da Federico Biagi. Introduzione e conclusioni sono state elaborate congiuntamente dai due autori. 79

Water Pricing in Italy: Beyond Full-Cost Recovery

This chapter provides an overview of the Italian water management system, which is segmented by sectors and characterized by a wide plurality of management systems, operators, and financing patterns. In the last 20 years, Italy has introduced far-reaching reforms of water management, which concerned in the first place urban water supply and sanitation. The most important aim was to create the basis for an autonomous and self-sufficient water industry, driving the sector out of the public budget. Financial equilibrium of water undertakings and access to market-based finance have dominated other possible aims of water pricing. Other sectors, and notably irrigation, continue to follow more traditional schemes. The chapter also discusses further reform opportunities in the search for using water prices as economic incentives for a more sustainable use of water resources.