On the 24th of May 2010, at the conference “Energy from waste: an assessment of the contribution to climate change mitigation policies in Italy”, organised by Politecnico di Milano, CMCC, Ecocerved and Uniocamere, Francesco Bosello from CMCC presented the main conclusions of the E=mc2 project:   “Energy from waste: an assessment of the contribution to climate change mitigation policies in Italy”. For more information, please see the dedicated article or the Final Report [pdf-770kb].

The other research works presented during the conference are summarised here below, while presentations can be dowloaded following this link [zip-5MB].

GHG emissions from waste disposal

Ing. Stefano Caserini, DIIAR – Sez. Ambientale – Politecnico di Milano 

The link between increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) – for example carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – and the climate change is nowadays unequivocal. International researches on climate show the past trends and forecast a future growth of GHG emissions, together with the global temperatures and sea levels rise.

The waste sector contributes for approximately 3% to global emissions: acting on it, some results can be achieved. Thanks to the gradual stabilization of waste production in Italy, the increased recycling and the reduced use of landfill – main cause of the warming potential of the waste sector – a slow decrease emission is foreseen.

Paths and scenarios for materials recovery and waste-to-energy: the LCA approach

Ing. Mario Grosso, Ing. Lucia Rigamonti, DIIAR – Sez. Ambientale – Politecnico di Milano 

The LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) is the investigation and evaluation of the environmental impacts of a product, service or activity: the assessment includes the entire life cycle of the object, thus including the extraction and processing of raw materials, manufacture, transport, distribution, use, reuse, recycling and final disposal. The LCA applied to the waste sector shows that the packaging recovery can substantially contribute to the reduction of the waste’s impact on global warming: the energy production from waste and the composting have only a marginal role. The recycling of the packaging provides an environmental benefit which varies depending on the material considered. In general, the greatest benefit comes from the recycling of aluminium, followed by steel, glass, plastic, paper and wood.

Paths and scenarios for materials recovery and waste-to-energy: energy recovery 

Prof. Stefano Consonni, Ing. Federico Viganò, Dipartimento di Energia – Politecnico di Milano

Wastes, usually considered a negative externality, can become a resource. The right path is drawn by four “R”: Reduction (prevention), Reuse, Recycling, energy Recovery. The landfill must be only the last step of this path.

The results of the project “Comparative analysis of pathways for materials recovery and energy from waste” show that the quality of the separate waste collection is not a good indicator of the quality of the energetic and environmental results of the waste management system. 

Increasing the materials recovery, the recoverable amount of useful energy decreases; nonetheless, doubling the percentage of the separate waste collection, the energy potential of what is sent to the incinerator with energy recovery is reduced by only 25%.

Data quality, environmental quality

 Manuela Medoro, Ecocerved

Data are the measures of phenomena. From the management and the quality of data derives the correct production of information.

The quality of data is determined by several aspects: data must be not only statistically numerous and representative, but also objective, accessible, detailed. It must be possible to integrate different data (typically in the Life Cycle Assessment – LCA), to cross and compare them.

The dynamic model ICES – Intertemporal Computable Equilibrium System used for the research E=mc2 – Energy from waste: an assessment of the contribution to climate change mitigation policies in Italy, allows a systemic vision of the “waste” sector by evaluating the multi-regional and multi-sectoral interdependences.

The link between data quality and environmental quality is evident: in order to improve the environmental performance it is necessary to have clearly defined objectives, as well as tools which allow verifying their achievement. 

More information

• Download the four presentations summarised in this article [zip-5MB]
• Article on the final report of project E=mc2
• Final report of project E=mc2 [ita-pdf-770kb]
• E=mc2 project summary
• Event of the 24 May 2010 in Milan