The memorandum
Ecopneus has signed with the Ministry for the Environment and the local Authorities an operative protocol that formalizes the start of the ELT extraordinary collection operations in the territories of Naples and Caserta Provinces. The Memorandum considers that this intervention be funded by some tyres manufacturers and importers partners of Ecopneus, making available for this purpose an amount of money (over 1.5 million Euro) deriving from their individual management surpluses accumulated before joining Ecopneus.
Involved partners are: B.R. Pneumatici spa, Bersangomme srl, Devalle Gomme snc, Gexpo spa, GRG Pneumatici srl, Laneve pneumatici srl, Mecerdes-Benz Italia spa, Natale Illario, Parise Gomme snc, Pneus Sette srl, Pneusmarket spa, Pneusmarket Alpina spa, Ponente Gomme, R.G.S. tyres manufacturers pneumatici srl , Rossi Lamberto srl, Solideal Italia spa, Trelleborg W.S.I spa, Union Pneus Italia srl, Univergomme spa, Apollo Vredestein Italia spa, Zuin spa.
Ecopneus will manage these activities, granting the success of this extraordinary intervention that will develop during a period of 12 months.
Participation of Local Authorities
The Memorandum considers the active participation of the Prefect appointed by the Minister of the Interior about the problem of arsons in Campania, together with the Municipal Prefectures and Administrations in the territory committed to tracing abandoned End-of-Life Tyres, and to deliver them to Ecopneus’ system operators at suitable and authorised centres.
Ecopneus’ role
By adhering to the memorandum, for its competence area, Ecopneus commits itself to:
- have ELT quantities collected, free of charge, at those centres agreed with the Municipalities, and guarantee their management according to the current regulation and its procedures;
- make available to the Municipalities the rubber powder obtained from the best fraction of ELT managed according to this Memorandum, and to be used to realize a cycling lane, in compliance with current regulations;
- provide suitable information and awareness activities to tyres’ users and those subjects involved in their commercialization, about the importance of tax regularity at the time of tyres purchase, considered as a tool to fight ELT dumping.
A vigilance Committee will control the activities’ evolution throughout the duration of the Memorandum; the Committee will be composed by representatives from the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of the Interior, Naples and Caserta Prefectures, Naples and Caserta Municipalities, and Ecopneus.
No extra costs will be charged to end users buying new tyres or to Public Administrations; besides, Ecopneus will guarantee regularly the daily collection at over 2000 tyre dealers served in Campania.
Who Ecopneus is
Ecopneus, a non-profit Limited Company, is one of the organizations responsible, from 2011, for the management of End of Life Tyres (ELT) in Italy. Operating according to the M.D. n. 82 of April 11th, 2011, it manages ELTs generated in the replacement market during the phase of tyre replacement, taking care of their collection, subsequent shredding, and recovery. The decree regulating the activity of tyres manufacturers and importers and their associated forms foresees that yearly 30% of possible management surplus will have to be assigned to collection operations from old stocks, to be communicated to the Ministry for the Environment, with the aim to remove the large number of sites subject to illegal piles still existing in Italy. 60 among Italian tyre manufacturers and major importers in the domestic market are Ecopneus’ partner companies.