Used oils, Italy first in Europe for take-back and regeneration

The supply chain works. And the 'circularity rate' close to 100 per cent puts Italy in first place in Europe in the management (collection and regeneration) of mineral oils from industry and workshops. A figure that also brings with it economic growth with +12% compared to last year.

The trend emerges from the new Sustainability Report 2023 of Conou, the national environmental consortium that has been collecting and recycling used mineral oil into a resource for forty years. The numbers indicated in the report, which, as President Riccardo Piunti emphasises, "take a complete and truthful snapshot of excellence thanks to the certification of a level-headed auditor", are eloquent and speak of progressive improvement and growth. That means 183 thousand tonnes collected, 'almost the entire quota that can be collected', with 98% sent for regeneration.

Making this chain work is also the work of 59 dealers who, in their collection and micro-collection activities (there are 6,641 thousand deliveries with 678 vehicles), collected oil from 103 thousand producers throughout the country. These are, in 12% of cases, industrialists and in 88% workshops. "Of the tonnes collected, 50 per cent came from micro-collection, i.e. from small quantities even in inaccessible locations far from major roads, which Conou encourages by favouring the exhaustiveness of the collection, offsetting the extra costs of the service," the report emphasises. "Most of the 183 thousand tonnes were transferred to the three regeneration plants; only 2.8 thousand tonnes went to waste-to-energy plants, while a minimum quantity of 600 tonnes was transferred for thermal destruction in incinerators.

As for the division on the national territory, it emerges that over 58% of the total collected comes from the North and sees Lombardy at the top of the list of producing regions with 22% followed by Veneto with 12%. The regions of the Centre contribute 18%, with only Latium coming in at 7% and Campania collecting the same percentage. The South and the islands come in at 23%.

No less important is the impact on the environment. Reading the report, it emerges that the regeneration of used mineral oils has "avoided the emission into the atmosphere of 127 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a gas responsible for the greenhouse effect, with a 57% reduction compared to the alternative system, which involves the generation of virgin lubricating bases, diesel and bituminous products". In addition, "about 7 million GJ of fossil fuels consumed less, an improvement in soil quality and less exploitation (90 per cent), 60 million cubic metres of water saved, a benefit in terms of the incidence of diseases due to the emission of particulate matter that is 92 per cent lower".