Waste, first yes from the municipality for the award of the waste-to-energy plant to Acea

From the Campidoglio comes the first green light for the proposal to award the construction of the new waste-to-energy plant to Acea Ambiente, the leader of a temporary business grouping that also includes Hitachi Zosen Inova, Vianini Lavori, Suez Italy and Rmb. The only bid on the table, which arrived in May, has passed the scrutiny of the commission appointed by the Capitoline administration to assess the economic-financial and technical aspects, which has filed its report.

"The proposal," reads a note from the Campidoglio, "has been forwarded to the Single Procedure Manager, who will immediately start the verifications and procedures for the authorisations. At the same time, the selection of the company that will be in charge of the on-site verification of the plant project will take place". The formal awarding of the contract will therefore take place after the on-site verification and approval of the executive project, so that the new plant will be built in record time at Santa Palomba, on the outskirts of the capital and on the border with Pomezia, with a concession of 33 years and 5 months.

The value of the investment is confirmed at EUR 946.1 million, of which EUR 820 million is earmarked for the works. The waste-to-energy plant will be equipped with two furnaces, each with a capacity of 300 thousand tonnes of undifferentiated waste per year: in all, therefore, 600 thousand tonnes of rubbish will travel to Santa Palomba. This does not make up the total: Rome produces about 1.6 million tonnes of waste every year (more than the sum of that produced by Milan, Naples and Florence), almost half of which is recycled. The rest (850,000 tonnes) remains unsorted and to this quantity must be added the recycling waste, which accounts for at least 40% of the differentiated waste.

The Campidoglio's objective, in perspective, is twofold: to progressively reduce the amount of undifferentiated waste to be disposed of, improving the percentage of differentiated waste in order to bring it to 65% by 2030 and, above all, to make the Capital less and less dependent on external disposal plants and more and more autonomous in closing the waste cycle. In this sense, the concessionary relationship with Acea, which already manages the waste-to-energy plant at San Vittore del Lazio, is considered a plus point. Now the crux of the matter is the timetable: the mayor Roberto Gualtieri's hope is to 'run', starting work as soon as possible, at the beginning of 2025. The aim is to complete them by 2026. Bureaucracy and unforeseen events permitting.