Home composting in remote and cross-border areas of the In.Te.Se. project

Abstract

<abstract> The In.Te.Se. project - Innovation Territory and Services, for waste management in scattered areas is an Interreg V-A France Italy (ALCOTRA) project, financed within the framework of European cross-border cooperation programmes, in the Alpine region between France and Italy. On the subject of the local exploitation of organic waste, it permits the experimentation of home composting in scattered and cross-border areas in the Italian territories of the Province of Cuneo (Consorzio Servizi Ecologia e Ambiente, CSEA) and in the French areas of the PACA Region (Syndicat Mixte de Traitement des Ordures Ménagères des cantons du Guillestrois et de l'Argentièrois, SMITOMGA), through the use of individual and collective, manual and electromechanical composters. During the project it is estimated that a quantity of organic waste equal to about 2% of the not sorted waste produced in 2019 has been valorised, in 3 municipalities of CSEA and 23 municipalities followed by SMITOMGA where a separate collection circuit does not exist and it is conferred with the general unsorted waste. Overall, 31.72 tons of compost are obtained. The environmental balance deriving from the cooperation of the territories also makes it possible to estimate a negative balance of CO₂ produced, with 3212.78 kgCO₂ avoided. The economic assessment of not sending the organic component for disposal produced a saving for the two communities as a whole of €10,397.56, involving only 15% of the total population in the municipalities investigated. At the same time, a comparison with a separated collection system for the organic matter, determines the saving of €27,295.73 considering the all tested area. The implementation of this good practice has the potential to achieve interesting results from an environmental, social and economic point of view and to be extended to further portions of the territory and has demonstrated the successful choice of cross-border cooperation and the diversification of applied techniques. </abstract>