Contarina integrated waste management model: 'Door to Door', 'Pay As You Throw'

Contarina SpA
Type of organisation or company
Country
Italy
City
Lovadina di Spresiano (TV)
Language for original content
Key Area
Project elaborated in partnership
No
Scope
Submitted by
Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management (ACR+)
Start/End date
Ongoing
Yes
Contarina SpA
Description

The company Contarina is responsible for the management of waste in most of the Province of Treviso (Italy). It serves 554.000 inhabitants in 50 municipalities and has reached levels of source separation of up to 85% and generates only 58kg of residual waste per inhabitant and year. In order to achieve the exceptional separate collection rates the system needs to be most efficient. This can only be achieved with the use of intensive and adapted curbside collection combined with pay-as-you-throw system.

The company's daily objectives are to increase the percentage of separate collection, to reduce the amount of waste produced, to raise the quality of the collected recyclable material, and to improve the service offered, optimising the cost-benefit ratio. Recently, Contarina has realized two new plants for the development of recyclable waste and the recycling of absorbent products for personal care.

The success of Contarina is the result of a combination of several factors:

  • great source separation at source,
  • waste reduction incentives through pay-as-you-throw system,
  • transparency and efficiency,
  • political will and commitment to continuously improving the system.
Identified challenge (s)
Main results

Between 2000 and 2015, the percentage of recycling raised from 27.2% to 85.1% in the 50 municipalities managed by Contarina. In parallel, the production of non-recycable municipal waste went from 217 to 55 kgs per inhabitant/year.