On Wednesday, November 6, at the conference titled, The sustainability of the Italian mechanical recycling industry of metal, plastic and paper waste amid new protectionisms and the challenges of international markets, organized by Ecomondo STC & UNIRIMA (National Union of Pulp Recovery and Recycling Enterprises), ASSORIMAP (Association of Recyclers and Regenerators of Plastic Materials), ASSOFERMET (National association of recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals), environmental jurist Giovanni Tapetto highlighted the difficulties faced by companies dealing with scrap recovery. These challenges are generated by increasingly stringent rules and regulations and protectionist measures, which prohibit or make the export of recyclable waste difficult and complex. According to Tapetto, protectionism stands in stark contrast to the objectives of the circular economy and, in order to strengthen these objectives, the supply chain of recovery companies must be recognised as a point of reference and protected. According to European studies, the scrap collection and recovery supply chain has a growth perspective of 3.6 percent over the next seven years. Italy is the European leader in this respect, with about 80 percent of metal waste recycled. In fact, scrap is increasingly chosen by Italian finished steel producers, who feed their electric arc furnaces with scrap to the extent of 84 percent, much more than in the rest of Europe and the US (64 percent and 72 percent respectively). Tapetto stated that the shipbreaking sector is much neglected in Italy in favour of third countries. According to surveys, there are around 800 abandoned ships per year at Italian ports, but these are dismantled abroad, particularly in Turkey, because there is only one formally registered shipyard on the Italian territory. Tapetto concluded his speech by stating that scrap recovery companies should not be considered as performing a borderline activity. The category must be recognised in its primary role, on an equal footing with producers and institutions, in a context of equal exchange and synergy. According to Tapetto, the prospect of restricting the market is a gamble and is also uneconomical and unconstitutional, since the entrepreneur must be able to decide whom to sell to.
Vincenzo Formisano, owner of Formisano Ferro Srl in Cassino (FR), reiterated the fact that the activity of scrap recovery is given little consideration despite the fact that it offers a fundamental service, without which it would not be possible to use scrap or demolition waste.