The breakthrough comes in Calabria: where waste becomes Green Soil fertilizer

Below is the English translation

Focus on the first compost derived 100% from Calabria’s public supply chain tomorrow, June 30, 2022, at the Mediterranean Biodiversity Park in Catanzaro.

In the presence of distinguished speakers that included the President of the Region of Calabria, Roberto Occhiuto, the President of the Province of Catanzaro, Sergio Abramo, the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Regional Waste and Water Authority, Bruno Gualtieri, the Director of the, Pietro Oliverio, the Manager of the City of Catanzaro Environmental Hygiene Sector, Legambiente Calabria President Anna Parretta, Sieco Environmental Hygiene Manager, Luigi Siciliani, Alli-Scarl President Giada Fulini, Calabra Maceri Plant Manager, Alessandro Cittadino, and Cogevi Plant Manager, Giuliano Vettorazzi.

Green Soil was developed through the synergy and teamwork of the temporary group of companies that won the contract to upgrade and manage the Alli waste sorting, processing and recycling plant in the city of Catanzaro. Realizing the importance of creating a virtuous processing hub and achieving a percentage of sorted waste collection well above the minimum threshold prescribed law, the Calabrian company Calabra Maceri e Servizi S.p. A—a leader in the environmental sector—and the Padua-based company COGEVI (a Vittadello Group company) with decades of experience in infrastructure and building construction throughout Italy placed all their know-how and strongest resources at the disposal of ATO Catanzaro Waste Consortium and the challenges it faces.
As the joint-venture continued working on the design of plant’s new lines to contract specifications, special attention was given to accelerating the implementation of the aerobic composting line that transforms organic waste collected from citizens into a high-quality composted soil improver for agricultural use. This precious compost was only the fair reward to the citizens who had seen the logic behind carefully separating their waste.
More specifically, in June 2020 the venture installed an innovative temporary aerobic treatment system for the Organic Fraction from Separate Collection (OFMSW). Thanks to efficient management of the line, intended to remain in operation until the new treatment line with energy recovery and biomethane production scheduled for next year is completed, significant amounts of material have been recovered already in this first phase, along with the production of a mixed compost soil improver that can be used in agriculture, not just as landfill.
This strategic choice has diverted from landfills the significant amounts of out-of-specification compost that have been transformed into “Green Soil” which in its short life has already acquired acclaim similar to others already consolidated in the market, such as the fertilizers produced by Calabra Maceri e Servizi S.p.A. “Green Soil” by now offers leading agricultural companies assistance in redeveloping their soils with its extraordinary capacity to restore physical and chemical characteristics, sequester carbon, redevelop areas with hydrogeological instability, and reduce greenhouse gases as well.
This amounts to the decisive step to a circular economy, making a clean break with obsolete intensive agricultural practices, and encouraging sustainable models that combine excellent local production with full respect for the environment
All this represents a momentous turning point in a region in which waste has always been haphazardly shuttled from one place to the next and environmental emergencies have always been the news of the day, marking a complete turnaround and a new path in the regional public supply chain.
Now registered in the Ministry of Agriculture Fertilizer Register, “Green Soil,” the high-quality compost produced in Catanzaro that will close the virtuous circle of this green circular economy, is already being widely requested by companies and consortia in the area.
This extraordinary result was achieved thanks to the synergy between the skills of the two companies in the venture, the efficient waste collection system, and the attention and civic spirit of private citizens took in the proper disposal of their waste. This is a path that will certainly yield further developments in infrastructure and processes for the complete renovation of the entire Alli plant in the future.
“We give the Catanzaro processing plant special significance due to the role that Cogevi and Vittadello Group intend to play in support of the nation’s virtuous realities”, explained CEO Andrea Vittadello. “The partnership between public and private sectors can drive efficiency in the direction of modernization and the improvement of the quality of citizen’s lives, all of whom we wish to thank for their daily commitment to sorted waste collection, together with our gratitude to the consortium.”
The same opinion is held by Crescenzo Pellegrino, the man in control at Calabra Maceri, is currently engaged in designing and implementing as many as 8 anaerobic biodigesters up and down the Italian peninsula. Pellegrino is equally aware that a sustainable approach is the only pursuable path on the ecological transition that must guide the economic growth of a region that deserves much more.