October 03, 2019<\/p>\n
Approved in the Committee on Territory, Environment and Environmental Assets an amendment that regulates the moment when a waste becomes a product and can thus be put back into the processing cycle. Environment Minister Costa and Undersecretary Morassut: “a key sector of the green economy is unlocked and businesses are given certainty.” <\/p>\n
ROME – The agreement between those who wanted to give more powers to the regions to make procedures more agile and those who feared opaque maneuvers at the local level has been reached. Deciding how and when a waste ceases to be a waste and, instead of ending up in disposal, is included in a production cycle as a raw material will be the bodies in charge in the Regions. The Ministry of the Environment, however, will be responsible for verification and control of that process. In addition, to help the approval of standards, a “national register deputed to the collection of permits issued” is established. <\/p>\n
The amendment that puts an end to a long-standing issue (and averts the risk of an EU infringement procedure) was approved in the Territory, Environment and Environmental Goods Committee and will be included in the decree law for labor protection and corporate crises. According to the chairwoman of the committee, 5Stelle Wilma Moronese, the measure will be in the chamber as early as next week, and given the agreement among all components of the majority, it should be approved without a hitch. <\/p>\n
Breaking the news of the agreement was Undersecretary of the Environment, Roberto Morassut, who mediated between the parties: “This legislation, which has been awaited for years, marks a turning point and can join the government’s major Green infrastructure plan of 50 billion over 15 years. It is an important achievement, it is strategic of this majority, achieved through the practice of listening and confrontation between different forces but inspired by common goals and interlocution with associations and businesses. Now forward for the circular economy and the environmental turnaround of the country’s development model.”<\/p>\n
In addition to the great impact that the agreement has for businesses, the agreement on end-of-waste has great political significance, emphasized by Environment Minister Costa: “The agreement reached by the parliamentary majority that supports the government is wonderful news, which an entire chain of leading Italian companies in green technology had been waiting for for too long. After trying many times, we finally found the agreement: this is what politics is all about: harmonizing different starting points to find the right solution in the interest of citizens and in this case combining environmental protection and economic development.”<\/p>\n
The “environmental protection” referred to by the minister is guaranteed by the monitoring entrusted to Ispra. In fact, the amendment stipulates that the issuance of permits to include a type of waste in the production cycle will be issued by the competent authorities at the territorial level, i.e., the Regional Agencies for Environmental Protection, but these will then have to notify the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research of “the new measures adopted, reviewed or renewed, within ten days of their notification” to the party requesting them. <\/p>\n
The amendment also establishes the timeframe in which the entire procedure, including Ispra clearance, must be completed. This is to give answers immediately to companies that want to start production. The end-of-waste regulations, in fact, are not only to limit the amount of waste that ends up at disposal, but also to avoid phenomena such as fires in storage sheds, which have occurred frequently lately. <\/p>\n
Another important novelty is the creation of the “national registry,” a “data bank,” as Senator Moronese called it, which is essential to have under central control what is being done at the regional level and to be able to unify procedures. Finally, again to streamline procedures, there will be a “task force,” Moronese said, “that will deal only with particular authorizations, so as to shorten time. <\/p>\n
How much the news of the agreement was expected is shown by the reaction of the regional councillor for the Environment of one of the regions most at the forefront of the circular economy, Emilia Romagna. “It is a step forward that will return certainty to the regions says Councillor Paola Gazzolo – In Emilia-Romagna, the issue is particularly heartfelt and about a third of the authorizations issued risk expiring and not being renewed in the absence of a legislative framework that once and for all gives back to the regions the power to authorize the termination of waste status, defining the criteria on a case-by-case basis.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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