Plastic collection at risk of chaos in Sardinia. As of today, So.ma. Ricicla srl, the company responsible for plastic packaging collection in the south of the island, has suspended operations, as communicated to the Region on July 24th.
The company justified the decision by slowing down the collection of material already pressed and stored while awaiting delivery to the recovery and recycling plants identified by the Corepla network.
To prevent repercussions on waste sorting in the island's municipalities, the regional Environment Councilor, Rosanna Laconi, has urged the government to intervene in the national consortium system, in a letter to the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. According to So.ma.'s report to the Region, the current collection schedule and the issuance of related vouchers by Corepla are insufficient to ensure the regular flow of materials, a situation exacerbated by the increase in summer deliveries. The system began to experience difficulties at the end of last year.
Slowdowns and temporary suspensions of deliveries were recorded first in northern and then southern Sardinia. The councilor immediately initiated ongoing monitoring and discussions with stakeholders in the supply chain. According to the Region, the problem stems from a sharp contraction in the market for materials derived from plastic recycling, partly due to the growing competitiveness of virgin raw materials from non-European countries. The movement of materials destined for recovery has slowed, and the availability of storage space at facilities has decreased. On June 29, during a hearing promoted by Laconi, coordinator of the Environment, Energy, and Sustainability Commission of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, the national leaders of CONAI and COREPLA confirmed widespread critical issues throughout Italy and expressed concern about possible collection delays during the summer.
The department announced that the necessary technical discussions are underway to authorize the temporary storage increases requested by Corepla, in order to absorb the increased summer deliveries without interrupting collection. On July 8th, Councilor Laconi explained the gravity of the situation to Deputy Minister of the Environment, Vannia Gava. The Regions requested to be involved in the ministerial discussion dedicated to the plastics supply chain and to be kept informed of the government's initiatives. Discussions continued on July 20th and 24th with further meetings with the consortia.
"The island cannot suffer the consequences of market dynamics that affect the entire national recycling system," declares the Environment Councilor. "Our island status makes managing these issues even more delicate and requires particular attention from the state."
(Unioneonline)