REGULATIONS
If you are part of that 65% of Italians that hold the environment theme to heart, you will be pleased to know how much one can intervene in favour of defending the environment, even from the inside of your own office, simply by being interested in the correct process of the disposal of office waste, the danger of which is so often disregarded.
What’s more since 1997, it is not only the conscience of the single individual to concern itself, but also, finally, Italian Law has adjusted to European regulations legislating in the matter.
The first is always destined for disposal, the other can be recycled so as to be reintroduced into the production cycle (eg paper, aluminium, polyethylene etc.)
These types of waste, according to the Ronchi Decree, cannot be treated as urban waste and therefore cannot be disposed of in the normal urban waste tip but have to be managed separately through operators that are expressly authorized by the competent authorities whether they be transport or disposal companies.
By failure to respect these regulations one will incur in severe sanctions.
Monitoring of environmental waste can be made by various agencies: N.O.E. Ecological Operative Forces - Inspectors of the Health Service and Regional ARPA (Regional Environment Agency).
What’s more since 1997, it is not only the conscience of the single individual to concern itself, but also, finally, Italian Law has adjusted to European regulations legislating in the matter.
A small measure of said regulation:
The Legislative Decree No.22 of 5th February 1997, better known as the “Ronchi Decree” totally regulates management of any kind of waste : urban, treated as urban, industrial and office.
Industrial and office waste according to their intrinsic characteristics are classified into two sections:
- Special non dangerous
- Special dangerous
- Special or dangerous waste is in its turn classified according to its final destination:
- Non reusable
- Reusable
The first is always destined for disposal, the other can be recycled so as to be reintroduced into the production cycle (eg paper, aluminium, polyethylene etc.)
- The main types of waste produced in any office are four:
- Toner, cartridges for laser printers, cartridges for inkjet printers, spent printing ribbons etc)
This is special waste non dangerous and dangerous.
- Damaged cathode tubes (neon strips) are special dangerous waste.
- Obsolete electronic equipment (computers, printers, photocopiers, telephone exchanges, monitors, videos etc.) are special waste non dangerous and dangerous.
- Paper and paperwork files are special waste non dangerous.
- The Ronchi Decree and the successive European legislative decrees, have associated, as foreseen by the regulation from which it derives,- the CEE regulation-, that to each type of waste there corresponds a code (CER= waste disposal code list) and if we refer to the above mentioned waste by their codes they would be the following:
- Toner, cartridges and ribbons: 08 03 18 special waste non dangerous, 08 03 17 special waste dangerous if non reusable, 15 01 02 if non reusable, 16 02 16 if reusable. With a Ministerial Decree (DM) no. 286 of 5th April 2006, the codes 150102, 150104, 150106 have all been substituted, as by comma 13.20, by codes 080318, 1602016.
- Cathode Tubes: 20.01.21 special dangerous waste.
- Obsolete electronic equipment: 16 02 14 special waste non dangerous, 16 02 13 special waste dangerous.
- Paper: 15 01 01 special waste non dangerous – 20 01 01 urban waste.
These types of waste, according to the Ronchi Decree, cannot be treated as urban waste and therefore cannot be disposed of in the normal urban waste tip but have to be managed separately through operators that are expressly authorized by the competent authorities whether they be transport or disposal companies.
By failure to respect these regulations one will incur in severe sanctions.
Monitoring of environmental waste can be made by various agencies: N.O.E. Ecological Operative Forces - Inspectors of the Health Service and Regional ARPA (Regional Environment Agency).
