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More than 600,000 tonnes of durable goods found in the urban waste in Italy have the potential to be reused each year (if considering only those in good state and easily exchangeable on the market), according to “The National Report on Reuse 2018” presented by ACR+ member UTILITALIA. This represents 2% of the total amount of urban waste generated in a year in Italy. This includes toys, books, electronics, furniture and various objects which are often thrown away due to the lack of legal framework favouring the structuration of reuse activities. The loss created reaches nearly 60 million euros per year, for disposal costs only and without considering the value of the second-hand objects.
 
Several initiatives can be implemented to valorise this treasure but this requires a system of “preparing or reuse” functioning at the level of the industry which is inhibited by fragmented national legislation. As a result, private initiatives are flourishing – with around 3,000 second hand shops and 550 markets selling used goods – while few synergies with public authorities are developed. Only 9 regions have included the development of reuse centres in complement to the urban waste collection centre in their environmental strategies.

Currently the sector of second-hand clothing is the most developed and structured: in 2016 133,000 tonnes of textile waste was collected of which 65% was reused. However the potential for reuse in the textile sector remains high and could reach over 5kg of textile collected each year per inhabitant.

Source: www.utilitalia.it (in Italian)

 

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