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ANAEROBIC DIGESTION The Italian job Milan's food waste recycling levels have quadrupled. David Newman explains how the source-segregated system works. y the end of 2012, local authorities in Italy had a target to hit 65% recycling. In large cities, with dense populations, this was always going to prove challenging – and very few urban conurbations have managed it. But Milan is now showing the way, having just hit the goal thanks to its focus on food waste. Following two failed attempts to collect organic waste, the city's waste contractor Amsa (Azienda Milanese Servizi Ambientali, A2A Group), 16 Local Authority Waste & Recycling June 2015 B David Newman is MD at the Biobased and Biodegradable Industries Association (UK) Separate collections for food waste began in November 2012 in one quarter of the city. Residents were given kitchen caddies and rolls of compostable bags. Over the course of the next two years, further collections were added in the remaining quarters – and now every resident has access to separate food waste collections. Food waste recycling rates have quadrupled, and rates have also climbed slightly in other streams. Early indications suggest that Milan now extracts 85% of the city's food waste from the residual portion (household plus commercial). It's perhaps not so much a case of third time lucky but third time well-prepared. Contamination of the food waste stream is fairly low, having fallen from 4.4% to 3.4% in the past couple of years. Half of that is plastic bags, but with a ban in place contamination could fall further. Currently, almost half the organic waste collected is in the compostable bags distributed by Milan's shops. CUSTOM BUILT HANDLING SOLUTIONS FOR THE RECYCLING & WASTE INDUSTRIES T/ +44 (0)1790 752771 E/ SALES@TONGPEAL.COM WWW.TONGPEALRECYCLING.COM R E C Y C L I N G LATEST TECHNOLOGY COMPLETE PLANT DESIGN PROVIDING A WORLD-CLASS SERVICE SINCE 1930 CONVEYORS ELEVATORS AD INFEED TROMMEL SCREENS PICKING STATIONS MRF SYSTEMS FEEDER HOPPERS introduced transparent bags for residual waste. The contents were picked through meticulously, revealing considerable potential to recycle more glass, paper and plastics, as well as recover food. As Paola Petrone, general manager at Amsa explained at last year's 'Milan Recycle City' conference: "We'd got to a point of 'no growth' in our recycling rates and so decided to introduce a food waste [collection]. There was a long period of studying and collection of data [and then] a strong communication campaign [to launch it]. We've learnt from our mistakes." Odour... 01905 362100 www.airspectrum.com The one stop odour control and dust suppression specialists ...Gone! consulted contained neutralised odour lab odr ENHANCED ENHANCED BESPOKE ODOUR NEUTRALISER ODOUR? DUST? PRIORITY YOUR AIR QUALITY National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit at the University of Worcester 8283 • odour assessment • odour dispersion modelling • odour sampling • acuity testing • odour management planning • ODR neutralisers • nozzle line misting systems • rotary atomisers

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