From his 33 years of “honorable career” in a difficult sector such as that of special waste and balance sheets in order that guarantee dividends to shareholders. Barricalla is one of the plants authorized in Italy to receive non-hazardous and hazardous special waste, including asbestos. “In thirty years of work we have collected 1.7 million cubic meters of materials” says CEO Alessandro Battaglino who has recently shared with the Metropolitan City of Turin the dossier for the expansion of the site, which will run out in a couple of years. “This is a sector that works, and how. And the fact that there are few plants like ours is a positive factor, in the face of high demand ». Barricalla is in fact the end point of the circular economy paradigm, emphasizes Battaglino, while the starting point is that in the production cycle there are materials that, to date, cannot be reintroduced into the production cycle and reused, and must be disposed of in a manner regulated and transparent. The point in this sector therefore is the supply of facilities and the legality of disposal activities. “In just one year – explains Battaglino – the seizures by the police of hazardous waste illegally disposed of is four million cubic meters”. 70% of the materials supplied comes mainly from the Northwestern regions of Italy. Authorized to accept over 230 types of special waste, although it mainly works on about twenty codes, it is unique in Italy. Here the materials that arrive already treated and inerted are buried to create the five artificial hills of Barricalla, two of which are covered with photovoltaic panels. This provides for the environmental restoration plan that has led so far to the construction of two 1.5 MegaWatt plants. “These are plants capable of generating part of the revenues necessary for the management of the structure when it has closed its business” explains the CEO.
One third of the collection concerns asbestos powder, which once buried must be geolocated, next to the land to be reclaimed or parts that cannot be recovered from car batteries for lead recovery. The platforms where special waste is treated are owned by the two operating partners of Barricalla, Iren with 35% and Ambienthesis, also with 35%, alongside the 30% stake held by Finpiemonte Partecipazioni. A company with a turnover of 15 million per year with a profit ranging from one and a half million to two million.
The future expansion could be carried out on land also in the Municipality of Collegno, starting from an unused quarry, “exactly as it was at the time for the first lot of Barricalla” adds Battaglino. The Metropolitan City will open a Services Conference in view of the expansion which will last at least one year, then it will move on to the construction of a new plant with an investment of 40-50 million. Technologies and waste management, Battaglino says, have evolved over the years and materials that previously ended up in landfills are recovered or no longer exist, such as sludge from car paint systems. But what good practices could Italy import from abroad? “Germany, for example, uses disused mines, thus combining waste management with the theme of environmental recovery, and having one less problem, the management of leachate water which is a heavy cost”.