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Electric and electronic waste: 146 million kg collected by Cobat 2015 report by the consortium in charge of exhaust batteries: +150% in the recycling of WEEE.
Over 146 million kg of electric and electronic waste were collected in Italy in 2015 alone. A mountain of smartphones, tablets, home appliances, and batteries, thrown away due to exhaustion or to the incessant progress of technology, and later transformed into new raw materials. The data comes from the 2015 activity report by Cobat, the National Collection and Recycling Consortium.
The report shows concrete examples of how circular economy in Italy is alive and well-functioning, thanks to the fruitful cooperation of manufacturers, retailers and collectors: after their life span, products are transformed again into raw materials for the Italian industry.
This, together with the fact that Italy can and must achieve the European waste collection targets thanks to this kind of management models, made the object of a round table directed by Maurizio Melis, Radio 24. The title of the meeting was “For every end there’s a new beginning: circular economy as a development model for our country” (“Per ogni fine c’è un nuovo inizio, l’economia circolare come modello di sviluppo per il nostro Paese”). It was attended among others by Giancarlo Morandi, president of Cobat; Ermete Realacci, president of the 7th Commission of the Chamber of Deputies; Rossella Muroni, president of Legambiente; Filippo Bernocchi, ANCI delegate for energy and waste management policies.
The round table was opened by Michele Zilla, Cobat General Director, and Claudio De Persio, Cobat Operative Director, who presented in detail the data from 2015. Once again the Consortium confirmed its leadership position in the field of the collection of batteries and accumulators. One of the most impressive data reported was the strong increase of the recycling of WEEE (Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment), which grew by 150%.
“Excellent results – commented Cobat president Giancarlo Morandi – but now we aim for even more ambitious goals. We are working to develop the perfect synthesis between circular economy and sustainable mobility, collecting and recycling all components of the vehicles of the future, hybrid cars and above all electric cars. In order to do so, we need to keep the pace with the batteries they function with”.
In 2015, over 700 manufacturers and importers of batteries, accumulators, photovoltaic modules, electric and electronic equipment, entrusted Cobat with the management of their end-of-life products.
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