Arco Reports Decline in Waste to Landfill Amid Recycling Efforts

For the first time since approximately fifteen years ago when the controlled landfill of Maza was commissioned, the volume of municipal solid waste collected in the territory of the Arco municipality has decreased: a tiny percentage, just 1.64%, but significant because it confirms the increasing effectiveness of awareness campaigns for separate waste collection.

Expressing open satisfaction, Environmental Councilor Fabrizio Miori outlined yesterday morning the data for the June-August 2000 quarter: a total of 1,667.24 tons of waste were sent to the landfill, representing just 98.34% of the total disposed of in the same period in 1999, when the district service transported 1,695.38 tons.

This occurred while in other municipalities of C.9, where separate waste collection has not yet reached the level implemented at the foot of the Castello, the total waste disposed of in landfills increased by 2.25%.

Trends and data on waste collection

The reversal of the upward trend in waste sent directly to landfills is even more significant considering that in the three months examined in 2000, Arco collected 2,380.95 tons, a 6.15% increase over 1999, when the total disposed of was 2,242.92 tons.

In the separate collection, the percentage increased in August 2000 to 17.07% of the total compared to 9.10% in 1999; all data show growth: bulky waste increased by 14.41%, plastic by 202.24%, glass and aluminum by 38.08%, and paper and cardboard by 57.06%.

Future projects and ongoing initiatives

“We are still far from the target set for 2001 by the Ronchi decree,” specified Councilor Miori, “but the path we are taking seems correct. Currently, we have started the construction of a dozen new ecological islands and are looking for areas, one in Ronarzollo and one in Oltresarca, to provide citizens with two centers for multimaterial collection, following the example of what was experimentally launched recently in Riva. Just these days, work has begun on the underground ecological island of Bolognano.”