Critical barriers for plastic recycling: A cc case-study in Turin

Waste accumulation is one of the most discussed environmental issues which is jeopardizing our planet from an environmental, economic and social point of view. In this context, plastic plays a pivotal role, because its accumulation and persistence is becoming a matter of great concern. In 2017, 43% of plastic packaging is recycled.. In order to understand the barriers and the criticisms which hamper the development of a more efficient recycling pathway for plastics, one of the most important material recovery plants of Turin has been selected as case of study. The plants belongs to Amiat, the multi-utility working in waste collection on the behalf of Turin Municipality. This plant can treat up to 66 ktons/year of plastic packaging. Its function is to pre-select the materials coming from the separate collection, in order to guarantee the necessary level of quality to allow the recycling process. In fact, pre-selection is required for different reasons: a non-efficient separation performed by the citizen, as well as administrative and legal constraints on plastics treatment, such as recycling plastic packaging only. Hence, this work is willing to identify the key-actors involved in the plastic recycling process as well as to analyse the role of the selected plant using a case study methodology, assessing the key barriers and suggesting possible solutions for future scenarios of plastics recycling.