Annual report of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association CIC- Consorzio Italiano Compostatori

Transcription

1 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 1 January 2014 Annual report of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association 2013 CIC- Consorzio Italiano Compostatori

2 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 2 January 2014

3 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 3 January 2014 Annual report of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association (short version) Authors Massimo Centemero, Marco Ricci, Dario Dall Anna, David Newman Editing of the English version: Marco Ricci Photo: Massimo Centemero INDEX WHO WE ARE... 4 CIC MEMBERS PARTICIPATING AT IFAT ERRORE. IL SEGNALIBRO NON È DEFINITO. SEPARATE COLLECTION OF BIOWASTE IN ITALY... 5 RECYCLING OF BIOWASTE IN ITALY... 9 CIC S QAS FOR COMPOST COMPOSTING AND AD PLANTS OTHER ACTIVITIES RESUMÉ FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION Rome (Italy), updated December 2013

4 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 4 January 2014 Who we are CIC members are public and private companies, local authorities and others involved in the production of compost, as well as organizations which do not make compost but have an interest in the composting process like producers of machinery and equipment, producers of fertilizers, research bodies etc. CIC s mission from the beginning is to enhance recycling and prevention of waste, share knowledge and know-how between CIC s associates, enhance compost quality and the market, perform technical training for the composting sector, assist government entities in improving biowaste recovery. In 2012 the Italian Composting Association (C.I.C.) celebrated its 20 th anniversary.

6 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 6 January 2014 Separate collection of biowaste in Italy From the mid 90 CIC has been involved in developing and enforcing adequate recycling capacities for biowaste following the Italian general Waste Act (Dlgs 22/1997) of 1997, which sharply changed the legal framework and vision for MSW management; separate collection of biowaste became a strategic element to reach the recycling targets set out in the National Law. The amounts of source-separated food-waste and garden-waste Official data for year 2011 show 4,5 million tons/year of biowaste to be separately collected and recycled in Composting or Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants (see figure 1). This amount rises to 4,8 million tons in 2012 and CIC estimates that by end 2013 this amount will reach 5 million tons. The international reader should be aware that in Italy biowaste is generally collected by means of two separate collection schemes: a scheme intercepting food-waste, including both cooked and uncooked food-residues and including meat, fish, etc. a scheme intercepting garden-waste, with lower frequencies than food-waste collection and with different collection tools and schemes Hence this report distinguishes data for food- and garden-waste collection, while biowaste will mean the sum of separately collected food- and garden-waste. Comparing capture rates of biowaste in Italian regions shows significant differences (see figure 2): in Northern and Central Italy potential capture rates for food-waste are in a range of 50-70kg/inhab/yr, while in southern Regions potential capture rates rise to kg/ inhab/yr and above, due to larger amounts of food-waste inside MSW. The amount of garden-waste tends to decline from northern to southern areas due to climatic conditions and are influenced also by rainfall and summer temperatures. Overall, despite the greater potential, southern Regions are still intercepting organic waste for composting at a very low rate. Figure 1: Separate collection of MSW in Italy with specific contribution of food-waste and garden-waste year 2011 Figure 2: Separate collection of food- and garden-waste in Italian Regions in kg/inhab/yr year 2011 Outlook: the amounts collected in 2011 and 2012 confirm the long-term trend (see figure 3) of biowaste increasing by 5% each year mainly due to the larger number of municipalities adopting separate collection for food- and garden -waste compared to the current amounts - biowaste recycled in Italy will increase approximately by 50% by year 2020, due to the fulfillment of National target for recycling and the extension of source separated -schemes for food-waste in Southern Regions. Figure 3: Outlook for separate collection of biowaste (i.e. food-waste + garden-waste) in 1000t/yr forecast 2012/2020

7 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 7 January 2014 The quality of source-separated food-waste Compost quality derives from feedstock composition and purity; hence CIC is continuously monitoring since 2004 the quality of source-separated biowaste and performed about 2200 waste- characterization analyses in the years up to In 2012 the average non-compostable quota of biowaste delivered to Italian Composting plants is 4,5% in weight, with best-practice cases showing less than 2,0% impurities. The non-compostable-quota (NCQ) consists of different plastic items (i.e. bags, cups, etc) and other non-compostable materials (i.e. glass, stones, metals, etc). Figure 4 shows the distribution of sorting analysis preformed in year 2012: 34% of the analysis show a NCQ below 2,5%, about 36% of the analysis show a NCQ between 2,5% and 5%, 22% of the analysis show a NCQ between 5% and 10%, while only 8% of the analysis show NCQ larger than 10% in weight of the sourceseparated food-waste. Figure 4: Non Compostable Quota of foodwaste (as % on f.m.) resulting from waste composition analysis performed by CIC on 675 samples of food-waste year 2012 The use of compostable bags for separate collection of food-waste

8 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 8 January 2014 The presence of post-consumer plastics by error or negligence into source separated food- (and garden-) waste represents a problem for composting facilities; compostable 1 bags used for separate collection of food-waste can strongly improve the quality of organic waste. According to CIC s data, if collection at households is carried out with PE-bags, the expected content of noncompostable materials (NCM) is about 9%, while, if the collection is performed with compostable bags the level of NCM can drop to 1,4%. So the bioplastic sector potentially can enhance the recovery process of biowaste delivered to composting and biogas plants, if bioplastics used for separate collection are compostable. Since 2011 the demand for bioplastics-bags in Italy increased due to specific regulatory prescriptions aiming to reduce the environmental burden of plastic packaging and specifically forbid biowaste to be collected in traditional plastic bags. According to Italian National Law on waste-management (Decree 152/2006) bags and liners for separate collection of biowaste must comply with the EU-standard (received into Italian law as UNIEN13432:2002 ) on biodegradable packaging materials. According to CIC s surveys (see Figure 5) between 2011 and 2012 the percentage of plastic bags inside source-separated biowaste reduced from 46% to 29%. Meanwhile, the quota of oxo-degradable plastics or plastic with additive increased from 10% to 19%. Hence, CIC is strongly working with National and Regional waste-management authorities, to assure that compostable and certified bioplastics are used for separate collection of biowaste. Figure 5: Bags and shoppers of different materials used for source-separation of food-waste - Italy 1 Complying with the EU-standard n

9 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 9 January 2014 Recycling of biowaste in Italy Biowaste from source-separation in municipalities (i.e. food- and yard-waste) accounts for about 80% of all organic-waste recycled at Italian Composting Plants in In case of AD-plants treating waste, biowaste separately collected in municipalities accounts for about 90% of the plant s input feedstocks. The trend of composting and AD plants In 1993 there existed some 10 composting plants accepting biowaste, but the number grew with the spread of biowaste collection and by 2011 about 252 plants are operating (see figure 6) and 149 plants have an annual capacity exceeding tons. Hence the composting sector currently represents 40% of all MSW recycled, thus being Italy s largest recycling industry with an annual estimated turnover 2 of at least 390 million euro. Current surveys performed on incoming organic waste into Italian composting facilities show food-waste to represents the largest quota, up to 48%, of input materials, garden -waste is almost 32%, while sewage sludge accounts for 11%. As a result, source-separated urban biowaste (i.e. food- and yard-waste) accounts for almost 80% of the overall organic-waste recycled into Italian Composting Plants. Quality of biowaste (in terms of percentage of compostable material) collected from households, restaurants and canteens, is a key aspect for producing quality compost. Within recent years, anaerobic digestion (AD) of biowaste has been steadily increasing (see figure 7). This form of treatment is chosen in almost all new opening composting facilities. In 2011 there are 27 plant for biogas production from biowaste for an annual turnover exceeding 0,5 million tons 3. The general approach in Italy is to couple AD with composting, and compost obtained from source separated feedstock has the status of EoW (i.e. it is a product). Figure 6: Biowaste treated (in 1000t/yr) and number of Composting Plants operating in Italy year 2011 Figure 7: Biowaste treated (in 1000t/yr) and number of Anerobic-Digestion Plants operating in Italy year 2011 Compost production In 2011 the composting sector produced over 1,3 million tons of compost starting from separate collected feedstocks. The different types of compost are shown in figure 8. Compost has the status of a product in Italy and about 70% of it was used as a fertilizer on crops while 30% was processed to manufacture garden and landscape products. 2 Limited to the composting plants 3 This amount is underestimated as explained in chapter Anaerobic-Digestion plants

10 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 10 January 2014 CIC s QAS for compost High Quality represents an added value for compost and improving quality is an objective for CIC since it s early years; therefore the Association started in 2003 the Italian certification scheme for quality-compost, so to enhance the quality of compost production and make customers aware about the advantages of compost use. Nowadays, CIC s quality certification scheme involves about 40 plants (see figure 9) and more than 30% of the compost sold in the Italian market ( t/yr) has gained CIC s quality compost label. Certified plants are licensed to use CIC s quality label (shown in figure 9) on compost-bags, Figure 8: Compost production in Italy year GVC = Compost produced from greenwaste only; BWC = compost produced from food-, garden-waste and other feedstocks. Figure 9: Location of Composting plants with CIC s Quality Assurance System year 2011 Note: ACM = compost produced from food- and gardenwaste; ACV = compost produced from garden-waste only; ACM con digestato = compost produced from garden-waste and digested residues (from AD-plants).

12 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 12 January 2014 Composting and AD plants Composting plants In 2011 out of 283 existing composting plants, only 252 plants are fully operating (hence accepting biowaste and producing compost) and these plants represent 93% of the existing treatment capacity for composting. (see table 1)161 plants have a treatment capacity exceeding t/yr. In 2012 the overall authorized capacity of plants (nearly 7 million tons), including those not yet constructed, far exceeds the amount currently treated signifying that the growth of collection systems will find treatment capacity as these plants are built. The amounts of different types of biowaste treated in composting plant were analyzed (see figure 10) by classifying the plants location (distinguishing between North-, Central- and Southern-Italy). The result shows that southern Regions have a reduced input of green-waste, needed as structuring material for managing the composting process. The output from the composting-sector is analyzed in table 2; on average the residues from a composting plant (i.e the amounts to be disposed of as waste) account for about 8,7% of the input quantities; this number is consistent with the average quality of NCQ inside input biowaste. Anaerobic-Digestion plants The number of AD plants is constantly increasing in the last decade. By 2011 n 32 AD-plants have been realized with a total authorized capacity of 1 million tons (see table 3); most plants integrate AD with (post) composting of the digestate. Apparently official data 4 suggest that AD-plants have large residual treatment capacities compared to the total amount of materials treated (about t/yr); but in reality the amounts treated are underestimated, since many AD plants are realized in connection with composting plants and the plant inputs are in some cases accounted for the composting step only. According to CIC, AD-plants treating biowaste are actually using almost 90% of the authorized capacity. From the existing plants n 8 AD-plants have a treatment capacity below 1000t/yr, while n 7 plants are exceeding t/yr; 2 plants are exceeding t/yr. The average treatment capacity is of t/yr, thus being industrial plants structured to recover both energy (i.e. biogas) and materials (i.e. digestate and compost) from separately collected biowaste. In 2011 the AD-sector produces about 81 million Nm 3 of biogas with an average yield of 160 Nm 3 of biogas per ton of input material. 4 Published by ISPRA, the Italian National Environmental Agency

13 Authorised Plants (N) Input authorised (t) Foodwaste (t) Grennwaste (t) Sludge (t) Others (t) CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 13 January 2014 Table 1: Composting plants in Italy year Input for year 2011 Figure 10: Feedstock accepted as input in composting plants for different geographical areas year 2011 Valle d'aosta 3 Piemonte 31 Lombardia 78 Trentino-AltoAdige 9 Veneto 17 Friuli-VG 8 Liguria 5 Emilia-Romagna 22 Total NORTH Toscana 20 Umbria 10 Marche 7 Lazio 13 Totale CENTER Abruzzo 7 Molise 1 Campania 6 Puglia 11 Calabria 8 Sicilia 15 Sardegna 12 Totale SOUTH Total ITALY Table 2: Output from Composting plants in Italy (data are rounded up) year 2011; Output - t/yr Amounts of output from compsting plants Composting plants Biowaste treated (t/yr) GVC BWC Others Rejects Total output GVC = Compost produced from greenwaste only; BWC = compost produced from food-, garden-waste and other feedstocks; rejects is waste that has to be disposed of. Table 3: Anaerobic Digestion plants in Italy year 2011 Input for year 2011 Italian Regions Authorised Plants (N) Input authorised (t) Foodwaste (t) Sludge (t) Others (t) Piemonte 2 Lombardia 7 Trentino A.A. 10 Veneto 8 Emilia R. 1 Total NORTH Toscana 1 Totale CENTER Campania 2 Sardegna 1 Totale SOUTH Total ITALY

14 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 14 January 2014 Other activities resumé CIC analytical programme for biodegradable materials CIC already started in 2006 a programme of analyses on biodegradable materials and - specifically- on compostable products. The programme ensures the material s ability to turn into compost during the industrial composting process. The programme applies the European regulation EN:13432 on compostable packaging, where applicable. The trademark "CIC Compostable" logo is issued after audits and tests performed by CIC in cooperation with Certiquality, a market leader in certification standards. As a result, about 50 products successfully comply with Certiquality s certification and more than 30 companies are licensed to use the trademark logo CICcompostabile to label the items. International activities and memberships CIC has been a member since the foundation of the European Composting Network (ECN), the leading European membership organization promoting sustainable recycling practices in composting, anaerobic digestion and other biological treatment processes of organic resources. CIC s Technical Director Massimo Centemero is part of ECN s Board since CIC is actively supporting the activities of ISWA the International Solid Waste Association, a global, independent and non-profit making association, working in the public interest to promote and develop sustainable and Professional waste management worldwide. CIC s Managing Director David Newman is ISWA s International President since CIC s senior expert Marco Ricci- Jürgensen is chairing ISWA s working Group on Biological Treatment of Waste (WGBTW), that addresses the biological treatment of the organic fraction of solid waste through aerobic and anaerobic decomposition processes.

15 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 15 January 2014 Further reading and information For additional information about CIC and its members please visit CIC head office in Rome CIC technical office in Milan Information about CIC s programme on biodegradable materials can be found at (in Italian only)

16 CIC-Consorzio Italiano Compostatori page 16 January 2014 CIC Italian Composting and Biogas Association Via Cavour 183/A IT Roma phone