Selective collection quality index for municipal solid waste management

Trentino (an Italian Province located in the northern part of the country) is equipped with a management system of municipal solid waste (MSW) collection at the forefront. Among the most positive aspects, there are a great ability for MSW separation at the source and a consequent low production of residual waste (RMSW) for disposal. Latest data show a gross efficiency of selective collection (SC) that has recently reached 80%, one of the highest values in Italy. This study analyzed the "Trentino system" to identify the main elements that have been at the base of the current efficient model. That gave the opportunity to propose a SC quality index (SCQI) including collection efficiency for each fraction, method of collection, quality of the collected materials, presence of the punctual tariff and tourist incidence. A period relevant for the transition of the collection system to the recent one was chosen for the demonstrative adoption of the proposed indicators, in order to catch the potential of the SCQI adoption. Results of the analysis of this case study were obtained in a quantitative form thanks to the sub-parameters that characterize SCQI. That allows SC decision makers to zoom deeply in a territory to find criticalities to be solved. For instance, the use of SCQI and sub-indicators in the case of Trentino pointed out and quantified comparatively the local problems given by the presence of a big Museum in a small town, by peaks of tourism in some valleys, by the delay in the punctual tariff adoption. SCQI has been proposed also with the aim to make available an integrated tool to analyze other areas in Italy and abroad.