The collection fractions

When it comes to separate collection, an initial distinction must be made between the ways to treat the two main waste categories: organic fraction (or “wet waste”) and dry fraction.

While the former is usually bound for composting, the latter is usually directed to recycling.

Ideally all recyclable materials – plastic packaging, glass, metal, paper and cardboard – should be bound to recycling, with the goal of reducing non-separate waste to a minimum.

Each material is obviously reserved to a specific process, though as a general principle, during the sorting process “clean dry fraction” is separated from waste material. While the latter are usually used for Waste Derived Fuel (WDF) or brought to landfills, a network of recycling consortia collects the rest:

Cna (National Steel Consortium)
Cial (Aluminium Packaging Consortium)
Comieco (National Consortium for Recovery and Recycling of Cellulose-based Packaging)
Corepla (National Consortium for the Collection, Recycling and Recovery of Plastic Waste and Packaging)
Rilegno (National Consortium for the Collection, Recycling and Recovery of Wooden Packaging)
Coreve (Glass Recovery Consortium)
Cobat (National Used Batteries Consortium)
Coou (Used Oil Consortium).