2 April 2025

Addressing Glass Crushing and Enhancing Glass Collection in Milan | Simone Orsi, AMSA – Gruppo A2A

This is the presentation of Simone Orsi from AMSA in the Ep14 of #90MinutesCGL, where he discussed Milan’s waste management system, highlighting its commitment to 100% material recovery and energy production, with no landfilling since 1987.

Milan has achieved 63.4% separate collection, using a door-to-door system with 55,000 pickup points and a fleet of 1,400 low-emission waste trucks running on biomethane and electricity. The city requires waste rooms in buildings, ensuring better waste separation and quality. Milan’s glass collection is separate from metal, with 128,000 dedicated bins and a declining number of bring banks to improve efficiency and reduce contamination. In 2024, 66,000 tons of glass were collected, representing 10% of municipal waste, and a new fleet of trucks will be introduced in 2025 to further enhance operations. Noise reduction is a key focus, leading to the development of glass noise reduction technology with Photonic Vibes, cutting noise by 50%. Communication with citizens is essential to improving glass quality, minimizing contamination from ceramics and other materials. The Milan glass treatment plant, operational since 2007, processes 180,000 tons of glass annually, using optical and X-ray selection technologies to eliminate impurities. Lastly, 73% of processed material becomes recycled glass, with only 7% sent to landfill, supporting a circular economy approach in Milan and beyond.

 

Watch Federico’s presentation here:

 

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