An area affected by toxic wastes fires, fuelled by tyres of different types.
A highly increasing illegal activity is destroying one of the most beautiful Italian areas. Local administrations and angry citizens, are worried about the health of people living around the area. This is the difficult situation in Naples and surroundings, where criminal enterprises burn waste piles in the open air waste piles with a devastating environmental impact.
The Ministry for the Environment has decided to take action, involving in a protocol – already signed by former Minister Clini – the Naples Municipality and Prefecture, and Ecopneus. The Protocol’s target is collecting abandoned ELT in the territory, to prevent their illegal use, and thus avoid further danger for the environment and public health.
Ecopneus has promptly accepted the Ministry’s invitation to participate with its managerialexperience in the extraordinary recovery programme in the territory considered in the Protocol. But not only that: Ecopneus has also communicated to the Ministry that some tyre manufacturers and importers among its partners are available to provide for costs related to this intervention, making available the money deriving from their management surplus.
Besides, the Protocol foresees the active participation of Municipal Administrations in the territory: the Naples Municipality and other possibly interested Municipalities, commit themselves to trace and collect abandoned tyres and to convey them to the right authorised centres, so that operators appointed by Ecopneus can collect them.
As far as its competence area is concerned, by agreeing to the protocol Ecopneus commits itself to:
1. collect, free of charge, ELT quantities at those centres selected with the Municipalities, and to guarantee their management according to the law and its procedures;
2. make available to the Naples Municipality rubber powder obtained from the best ELT fraction managed according to the Protocol, to be used for the realisation of a cycling lane in accordance with existing legislation;
3. carry out adequate information and awareness activity with tyre users and subjects involved in their sale, about the importance of fiscal compliance when buying tyres, as a tool to hinder ELT dumping.
A vigilance committee, made up by one representative of the Ministry from the Environment, one of from the Naples Prefecture, one from the Naples Municipality, and one from Ecopneus, will monitor the progress of activities for the duration of the Protocol.
This intervention can be realized thanks to funds made available by partners to Ecopneus for operational management: 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. 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.
No cost will be charged to end users replacing tyres and to Public Administrations, while Ecopneus will guarantee the regular daily collection at over 2,000 tyre dealers served in Campania.
The Ministry for the Environment selected Ecopneus as its partner thanks not only to its efficiency shown during the first period of activity, but also thanks to its constant commitment towards the conservation of the Italian territory, since Ecopneus has already recovered about 20,000 ELT tons illegally abandoned in some industrial areas at Ferrara, Buccino (SA), Oristano, and Olbia in 2012, and at Poviglio (RE) and Aulla (MS) in 2013.
Collect ELT