Rome's waste-to-energy plant site kicks off: first waste delivery in September 2029

For Palermo, it is 'an infrastructure with very high technological and innovative content, designed according to the most advanced European standards in terms of energy efficiency, emissions reduction, and recovery of materials and energy'. Technology is everything: "The plant will integrate the best available engineering and environmental solutions, setting itself up as a reference model on the European scene.

According to the waste plan approved in 2023, which aims to reach 70 per cent separate waste collection, reducing the use of landfill sites to zero, the plant is designed to functionally integrate with the entire recycling cycle. The project includes the construction of a Circular Resources Park, an area equipped with research rooms, coworking, an experimental greenhouse, green spaces and a panoramic tower over 70 metres high.

The hub will also house four ancillary facilities: a photovoltaic plant, a district heating network and an experimental system for CO2 capture and, in particular, bottom ash recovery.

The plant will produce thermal and electrical energy (65 MW in total) sufficient to power approximately 200,000 households and will enable the transformation of waste into reusable materials for construction use. The technologies adopted, the most advanced currently existing, will guarantee the best performance in terms of emissions at a European level: in fact, they will be well below the limits set by European directives and Best Available Techniques (BAT). An advanced flue gas treatment system is also envisaged, guaranteeing CO2 emissions 80 times lower than in landfills and dust emissions 100 to 10,000 times lower than on a busy street in Rome.

Emissions and other environmental parameters, such as soil, water, vegetation and noise, will be monitored according to the Environmental Monitoring Plan, approved within the Paur (Single Regional Authorisation Measure). The first "ante operam" surveys have already been carried out at this stage and will continue throughout the construction and operation phases. With reference to noise, in agreement with Gualtieri as commissioner, a continuous monitoring protocol was introduced to correlate the noise induced by the construction site with the measurements at sensitive receptors.

The design of the waste-to-energy plant, according to the developers, has been developed to minimise the reliance on external water supply and to maximise all possible recovery and reuse. The waste-to-energy plant will have an almost zero water footprint on the underlying aquifer. The needs of the plant will be met through the recovery of rainwater - through the management of meteoric water, for which a chemical-physical treatment plant has also been planned in preparation for reuse - and the reuse of purified water coming out of the Santa Maria in Fornarola purification plant thanks to an advanced treatment system to make the water suitable for reuse for industrial purposes. The drinking water pipeline for the plant's hygienic-sanitary uses will also be built. The project also provides for the securing of the Fosso della Cancelliera, which in the current situation is diverted to an abusive route.

The waste will arrive at the plant via the railway line that reaches the intermodal hub of Santa Palomba. In this regard, a protocol has been signed with the Ferrovie Group to define the operating procedures that already provide for the arrival of waste during the night.

In order to better manage traffic in the area, a EUR 31 million plan has been developed to decongest traffic in the southern quadrant. The Plan rests on three main lines the provincialisation of via di Porta Medaglia, thanks to which the current municipal road of about 6 km, which connects via Laurentina and via Ardeatina, will be upgraded to a provincial road with an investment of about 10 million euro the new management of the section of via Ardeatina between the GRA and the intersection with via Falcognana (approximately 5 km), which will be downgraded to a municipal road and handed over to Roma Capitale with the aim of transforming it into a safer urban axis; and the upgrading of the Pomezia-Santa Palomba axis with the widening and adaptation of the S.P. Cancelliera and Via di Valle Caia for a stretch of over 5.6 km. The latter intervention will serve to more smoothly connect the centre of Pomezia with the station and intermodal hub of Santa Palomba. The plan aims to create a 'quadrilateral' of provincial roads (Laurentina, Ardeatina, Porta Medaglia, and Valle Caia) capable of handling the commercial and industrial traffic loads generated by the area's production poles. While the funds for the Pomezia-Santa Palomba link are already available thanks to the agreement with RFI, the capital for the via di Porta Medaglia (10 million) and for making the new urban section of the Ardeatina safe (1.5 million) will be made available by Roma Capitale in agreement with the metropolitan city.

The https://www.renewrome.com/ website dedicated to the waste-to-energy plant is now online. An effort of transparency to tell every aspect of the project, answer frequently asked questions and clarify doubts. When the plant goes into operation, the company promises a section dedicated to real-time monitoring of emissions.