Single waste management: "It will be the last attempt."

After the Regional Administrative Court's (TAR) rejection of the provincial waste management project, the increasingly challenging in-house contract is being attempted again. AnconAmbiente is once again applying to manage waste collection and street cleaning. The ATA (Italian Association of Waste Management) had already entrusted AnconAmbiente with the task of managing the project, which was rejected by the TAR, among other reasons because it was to be implemented only after the corporate merger and the entry of the ATA municipalities into the same subsidiary, not before, as was done. Yesterday morning, during the ATA meeting, a report by a new lawyer, Riccardo Santoro of Florence, was presented. The ATA (Italian Association of Waste Management) appointed him to analyze the TAR's rulings on the appeals of Rieco and Marche Multiservizi and the possible feasibility of public management.

The Marche Regional Administrative Court (TAR) has definitively annulled the resolution awarding the province's in-house waste collection service (for 15 years), and now the process has to start all over again. Attorney Santoro has been tasked with conducting an investigation to determine the path to in-house service and, more importantly, its cost-effectiveness compared to a private contract (via competitive tender). Even the mayor of Marche, Daniele Silvetti, who has been convinced since taking office of the need to pursue a public contract (in-house), has said that this attempt (the third) will be "the last." If the lawyer deems it unviable, the project will go to tender.

However, some mayors are opposed to this latest attempt, which will require further expenditure on legal fees and extend the timeframe for the single operator, a project that has been awaited for over a decade. However, no one at yesterday's meeting specifically asked about the costs of these attempts, which have always failed in the face of administrative court rulings. Despite the unrest, work is still underway to achieve fully public management of the service, which will still have to be approved by the assembly of local mayors. Meanwhile, provisional management in 34 municipalities continues until December 31, but the timeframe for the assignment or tender process will inevitably be further extended.

Sara Ferreri