Among the various results in which Tivoli particularly distinguished itself, the collection of “WEEE”, i.e. waste from electrical and electronic equipment, stands out among all. Unfortunately, in many cities this waste is often abandoned in the countryside or in the suburbs, becoming the prerogative of a gray economy by groups that manage the illicit traffic. In Tivoli, since 2015, a project has begun which has brought the collection of WEEE from a few tens of tons per year to around 420 t per year in 2021. This has made the Municipality one of the most virtuous in the collection of WEEE in Italy, bringing not only environmental benefits, but also economic ones. From an environmental point of view, every electronic electrical equipment waste contains precious metals and rare earths, silver, gold and silicon circuits. All minerals which, if properly collected and transported to companies that disassemble and recycle them, can return to new life in the form of new raw materials. There’s no need to go harvesting in the mines anymore, because our own cities are urban mines. The name of our initiative, ‘Tivoli urban mine’ derives from this. 

The reduction of waste production is the first of the Rs that Europe imposes on us as Member States and it is the most important. In the field of WEEE, reducing this waste means reducing its production, reusing it, but also using it in a different way. Think of smartphones: they could be used as a remote control for televisions, as a videocamera or photocamera.

Francesco Girardi