Environment

Rome's waste, Cesano biodigester construction site starts

Ama Roma starts construction of a biodigestion plant in Cesano to transform organic waste into biogas and fertiliser, promoting environmental sustainability and recycling.

30 June 2025

4' min read

Ama, the urban hygiene company wholly owned by the Municipality of Rome, has formally taken possession of the 6-hectare area earmarked for the construction of the biodigestion plant in Cesano (municipality XV, north-west area of the city) and has handed over the works to the company that will build it. In fact, the first preliminary works on the construction site started today. The start of this construction site marks the beginning of work on the construction of plants for the 'green' economy (two biodigesters and two plants for sorting plastic and paper), which the capital still lacks to date. This was announced by Ama itself.

The waste treated

The plant is the first of those envisaged in Ama's Industrial Plan and will treat 100,000 tonnes of organic waste (food scraps, prunings and vegetable cuttings) per year, which will be transformed, through an anaerobic digestion process, into biogas and natural fertilisers. This is a modern and efficient type of plant that, through the treatment of the organic fraction, makes an innovative contribution to more sustainable waste management by promoting recycling and resource recovery.

Biomethane and compost

The objective is the recovery of biomethane to replace fossil fuels for transport along with the production of high-quality compost to be distributed in agriculture and/or floriculture. The tender for the executive design, construction, operation and maintenance for one year was awarded in August 2024 to a leading company in the sector; in these 11 months the executive design has been completed and the authorisation and administrative activities required for the start of the work have been carried out.

The biodigestion process

The biodigestion process consists of three steps. The organic waste is first separated from the other materials and shredded; subsequently, this waste is subjected to the anaerobic digestion process, which, through decomposition in an oxygen-free environment, results in the decomposition and subsequent production of biogas for domestic use or as fuel. In the third stage of the process, the waste is further processed with clippings and prunings to be transformed into compost, a high-quality natural fertiliser that can be used for agriculture and gardening.

Security

It is a safe, environmentally friendly and efficient type of waste treatment plant. In fact, the biodigester (a technology that already has 2,000 similar facilities operating in Italy and 20,000 in Europe) complies with strict regulatory requirements to ensure maximum safety. All processing phases take place in a sealed environment that does not disperse anything into the atmosphere or groundwater and that, thanks to air extraction and treatment systems, does not generate unpleasant odours. Today, this organic waste is destined for plants located in Northern Italy (Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia), with obvious economic and environmental repercussions deriving from the long distances to be covered by heavy vehicles..

Environmental benefits

Once fully operational, the Cesano and Casal Selce plants will produce important environmental and economic benefits through the elimination of 3,000 journeys and almost 4 million km per year travelled by the vehicles used for transport to the current destination plants, an activity that currently results in a cost of over 4 million 800 thousand euro/year. In addition, a total production of 36,000 tonnes/year of high-quality compost and 20 million cubic metres of methane is planned.

Administration's priority on waste

"From the very beginning, one of the priorities of this administration has been to radically reverse the approach to the issue of waste,' recalled Roma Capitale's Councillor for Agriculture, the Environment and the Waste Cycle Sabrina Alfonsi. 'A modern and efficient European capital, such as the one we are building, cannot be subject to periodic crises arising from the lack of plants, and for this reason it is necessary to guarantee that self-sufficiency in the treatment of materials which, thanks to these eco-sustainable plants and the circular economy, is finally within reach.

Ama's contribution to the circular economy

"We are adding a fundamental piece to a path, undertaken together with Roma Capitale, that aims to make our city a model of excellence in the circular economy,' emphasises the President of Ama Bruno Manzi. 'All the actions we are putting in place, envisaged in our industrial plan and in the Waste Management Plan approved by the Mayor in his capacity as extraordinary Commissioner for waste management, converge in the same direction, namely to provide Rome with a definitive and structural solution to the waste cycle that ensures both environmental and economic benefits.

Construction companies

Ladurner Srl and Atzwanger SpA, the two South Tyrolean companies active, inter alia, in the construction of waste and wastewater treatment plants, were awarded in a temporary consortium with Edil Moter Srl and Tecnologie Ambientali Srl the integrated contracts for the executive design the construction, management and maintenance for one year of the two plants for the recovery and valorisation of the organic fraction from separate waste collection (FORSU) for the production of biomethane and mixed composted soil improver in Rome on behalf of Ama - Azienda Municipale Ambiente SpA. These are the two plants in Casal Selce and Cesano, in the municipality of Rome. The Cesano plant, with contractor Atzwanger SpA, has a contract value of about EUR 84 million (with public financing of EUR 67.9 million). The works are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Andrea Mariniredattore
Luogo: Roma
Lingue parlate: Inglese, tedesco e spagnolo
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