Cavaglià (BI), 9 November 2018 – A concrete example of the circular economic to the benefit of the territory: a plant able to collect plastic obtained from differentiated waste collection and, thanks to innovative technologies and automated solutions, recover it as material to be returned to the community, generating value from start to finish.
One of the most advanced technological sites in Europe created by A2A Ambiente - an A2A Group company - in Cavaglià in the province of Biella was inaugurated today in the presence of A2A's Chairman, Giovanni Valotti, and the Chief Executive Officer, Valerio Camerano.
Starting from the individual bags that are distributed to citizens, the plant is able to treat, select and separate as many as 13 different types of plastics that can then be sent for recycling and become new objects. Technological excellence is the foundation of this structure and automation of the process with screens, optical scanners and windshifters make it possible to treat 45,000 tons a year of material. Tons of plastic that, as a second raw material, become the founding element of the circular economy process.
The hub for the recovery of plastic was built with highly insulating materials and is equipped with a 300 kW photovoltaic plant on the roof that contributes to the site’s power supply with 330,000 kW a year of 100% green energy.
“We are proud to have placed technological innovation concretely in service of the circular economy with the construction of this new site. But Cavaglià is just the start: our ambition is to develop the best waste management system in Italy,” commented Valerio Camerano, Chief Executive Office of the A2A Group. “In our Industrial Plan to 2022, we have planned 600 million euros of investment in plant dedicated to the circular economy, for the treatment of plastic, organic waste and end-of-waste”.
“Once again, with this plant, A2A confirms its multiutility approach directed towards sustainability, integrated in the territories and able to generate and distribute value,” said Giovanni Valotti, Chairman of A2A. “Our Group’s Sustainability Policy, developed starting from the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to 2030 of the United Nations, is based on certain fundamental pillars, including the circular economy and decarbonisation: this new plant is a further step along a path, the direction of which is already laid out and irreversible.”
The area of the Piedmont site also houses the “A2A in 3D” project, devised to focus attention on the benefits of the circular economy and on how plastic, if correctly managed with suitable tools, can be transformed into a resource.
Inside the structure, the public can experience a real journey of material, which starts from plastic as waste and covers all the stages up to the creation of new objects, and more fully understand the concepts of recovery, recycle and reuse.
In fact, visitors can manually grind up the plastic and obtain a filament for the 3D printing process and watch objects being made in PLA and ABS.
A2A Ambiente, a 100% subsidiary of A2A, is the leading operator in Italy and supervises the entire waste management value chain, from collection to recovery of material and energy, with a series of plants among the leaders in the country.
Waste that becomes resources: the virtuous path that transforms it starts right at the end, the moment when an object that can longer be used is thrown away. Passing through a series of processes that transform it into new material, it is reintroduced in the production and consumption cycles. Each material follows its own path, through different treatments, at dedicated plants. But the starting point is the same for all the materials: being carefully separated and properly collated.
Contacts:
A2A Media Relations
Giuseppe Mariano
Tel. 02 7720.4583
ufficiostampa@a2a.eu
- Economia circolare
- Innovazione
