ItalianoTHE CONTEXT
Italy is poor in raw materials; the possibility of reusing stabilised waste, for example to replace some natural minerals, is part of the application of the principles of the circular economy.
In particular, approximately 800 thousand tonnes, of which 500 thousand tonnes derive from urban wastewater, the sludge produced in Lombardy (ARPA 2017 data). Numbers that make it necessary to find long-term strategies for the treatment, recovery and reuse of this waste, through a sustainable management approach aimed at protecting the wellbeing of people and territories.
The first significant impact could be on agriculture. A further innovative element of the project concerns the treatment of boiler bottom ash and fly ash produced by waste-to-energy plants, a waste currently still disposed of in landfills. The idea is to stabilise them with the aim of extracting inert materials that can also be used in other sectors, such as construction, to replace some virgin raw materials.
THE PROJECT
The circular economy project, born within the working tables of the Lombardy Cluster for Energy and Environment (LE2C), is one of the winners of the Lombardy Region's call for proposals "Call Hub Research and Innovation", financed by the Lombardy Region and POR FESR 2014-2020 funds, and ranked 4th in the sustainability ranking out of 78 projects submitted, with a technical score of 95/100.
During the 30 months of project duration, partners will evaluate the health-environmental impact of alternative sewage sludge valorisation strategies in order to identify the most advantageous one (or combination) in terms of sustainability, also considering economic and regulatory aspects.
THE PARTNERSHIP
The partners of the FANGHI project are 6, all associated with Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster
- A2A Ambiente, Lead Partner
- Brianzacque S.r.l.
- Mario Negri Pharmacological Research Institute IRCCS
- Lariana Depur S.p.A.
- MM S.p.A.
- TCR Tecora S.r.l
For further information contact us or visit the website: www.a2aambiente.eu/economia-circolare/progetto-fanghi
Watch the video Mario Nenci, Chemical Engineer and project coordinator for A2A Ambiente, illustrates the different actions foreseen by FANGHI.