Bologna will give new life to electrical and electronic waste

An experimental project of the Emilia-Romagna region, unique in Europe, to collect WEEE, prepare it for reuse and sell it at large commercial chains

The experimental project of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the only one in Europe, to collect electrical and electronic waste, prepare it for reuse and organize its sale at large commercial chains.

The initiative, with which dozens of jobs could be created in five years, tests new ways of eco-compatible collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), to start preparation lines for their reuse and develop systems for the sale of these products, industrially regenerated and with certified operation, at dedicated “green corners”, placed inside small stores and large electronics stores.

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This was discussed in a meeting between the Regional Councillor for Economic Development and Green Economy of Emilia-Romagna, Vincenzo Colla, and the top management of Dismeco Srl, a company specializing in the recovery and treatment of WEEE.

The Rhine Valley pole of the Green Economy

The company, together with other entities such as Hera Spa, Aires-Confcommercio, CNA Bologna, University of Bologna, Zero Waste Italy (chaired by Rossano Ercolini, awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2013) and realities related to social cooperation, intends to prepare this new project in the field of recycling and reuse, which could lead in five years to significantly increase employment in the Reno Valley, at the site of the former Paper Mill of Lama di Reno (Bologna).

“A very important fact for the territory of our Apennines and consistent with the Pact for Work and Climate, where the circular economy is one of the founding elements of the positioning of this Region,” commented Vincenzo Colla.

Corners within large commercial groups

“We look with great attention to the theme of recycling and reuse and I find very interesting the project of corners within large commercial groups. This is a unique industrial program at European level, important not only to give a social market response and the reintegration of waste products into the value chain, but also to intercept and effectively combat the risk of pollution due to the abandonment of waste in the environment”.

“We are facing a strategic supply chain also from an institutional political point of view,” continued the Regional Councillor.

Preliminary agreement between the Government and the Emilia-Romagna Region (in Italian)
Preliminary agreement between the Government and the Lombardy Region (in Italian)
Preliminary agreement between the Government and the Veneto Region (in Italian)

“We are a country that has no raw materials, so recycling and reuse can really become a driver of development. In the post-COVID era, environmental culture will be increasingly widespread, and this is also why we are working to give certification at the regional and national level to these supply chains.”

“We face this challenge together with partners of the highest level,” said the president of Dismeco, Claudio Tedeschi.

“Certain of the necessary and fundamental institutional support to this innovative industrial supply chain. With the implementation of this project, the territory of Emilia-Romagna is at the top of the policies related to the Green Economy, declining them in an operational and concrete way, combining them with the attention due to social issues and labor.”

Dismeco, a company with international awards

Dismeco Srl was the first company founded in Italy for the management and treatment of WEEE. Moving to Marzabotto, in the province of Bologna, it redeveloped part of the abandoned former Borgo paper mill, where it set up its production and industrial plant in the area.

Conceiving and engineering innovative equipment for the management of this particular type of waste, non-destructive but selective, for materials and spare parts (with a world record of 98 percent recovery from the so-called “great whites”).

Dismeco’s Borgo Ecologico won the 2015 Confindustria Award as the best Industrial Project in the environmental field in Italy.

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In 2019 Dismeco won the Confindustria Award as “Best Performer in Circular Economy” and in 2020 it was selected as “International Case Study of Circular Economy” by the IWWG (International Waste Working Group).