Starting from the current situation and regional planning on waste recycling and treatment, this article contributes to the existing literature by building a scenario on minimum required plants needed for waste treatment, specifically focusing on wet and differentiated fractions. The proposed scenario is consistent with the objectives stated in Circular Economy to 2035 directives, full compliant with the waste hierarchy. Assuming waste production to be constant and plant capacity to be maintained as of today’s level, there still will be an additional need for wet waste recycling and residual waste treatment of respectively more than 2 millions tons/year and 1.5 million tons/year. These forecasts result in at least 53 additional anaerobic digestion plants and at least 4 incinerators. The proposed plant will is coherent with regional self-sufficiency in disposal of non-hazardous urban waste, following subsidiarity/proximity to large area principles for wet fraction (neighbouring areas) and residual urban waste (macro area).
Keywords: Economia circolare, rifiuti, pianificazione, fabbisogno, termovalorizzatori, digestione anaerobica, discarica
Jel Code: Q53, L99