Sustainability of a Pneumatic Refuse System in the Metropolitan Area: A Case Study in Southern Apulia Region

AbstractUrban waste management is a widespread Italian problem, particularly relevant in the south. The large quantity of unsorted waste creates direct discomfort from the collection to disposal and indirect environmental sustainability problems reducing the quality of both rural and urban areas. Since 2011, the production of municipal solid waste, has started to decrease due to the distribution of door-to-door collection systems, but also becausethe reduced share of consumption caused bythe economic crisis (ISPRA, 2014). Nevertheless, the separate collection rates remain too low and the landfill disposal too high related to European averages, resulting unsustainable both from an environmental and socio-cultural point of view. Starting from these assumptions, this research intends to propose a case study methodology for the waste management by using the Pneumatic Refuse System(PRS) as a viable alternative to the traditional collection system. In detail, the research is divided into two strictly consequential phases: the first step analyzes the correlation between the PRS cost and urban density indicator of five municipalities with different number of inhabitant located in the Province of Lecce, from which a general cost trend and consequently, the economic trade-off point have been determined. Starting from this point, the following phase analyses the cost effectiveness of the hypothetical installation of the PRS in one of the previous municipality analysed, in a high-density district. As a result, a general strategy for waste management on metropolitan scale will be identified in order to increase the recycling percentage in the South Italy, justified by the sustainability and by Circular Economy principle (MacArthur, 2013)