TITLE : dumping ground ______Country : Region: City: PECCIOLI (P ISA ) Kind of systems involved: • Biogas capture system • Biogas CHP cogeneration system • District heating system • Leachate collection system • Leachate treatment system • Small wind turbine system • Molecular dissociation plant (prototype) • Two Photovoltaic systems in marginal areas (A hectare of sky and a solar project under Terracciola Municipality, associated to 80 vegetable gardens assigned to 80 families)

For further information : http://www.belvedere.peccioli.net/ Timeframe: 2008 - 2012

General overview:

The garbage disposal of Peccioli Municipality is ranked as a first-rate model of public company and well-advanced environmental management. This is the proof that a well-managed and advertised waste treatment plant can be a high quality element and a growth trigger for the region. The key factors of Peccioli’s success are the active involvement of the local community, the concern for the environment and the positive economic impact for the area. The system’s fulcrum is Belvedere S.p.A., a state owned and privately-owned company that has been handling the waste treatment plant in Peccioli since 1997. Its core business consists in waste disposal and energy production from biomasses, solar and Aeolian. In order to increase public consensus and social integration, the local community has been invited to directly take part into the activities of the public company, including quality control of waste disposal systems. Revenues of this activities are invested in community-related services. The purpose of this is to enhance active participation of all citizens: they therefore become active stakeholders and there is no imposition of a pre-defined project. This concept comes to life through a mixed public company shareholding model that, aside from being a documented way of improving economic performance, changes the traditional way of perceiving the role of public administration bodies. 53,7% of the equity is owned by the Municipality (or Council) and 46,3% of it belongs to small shareholders (mostly inhabitants of Peccioli). Small shareholders own shares of Belvedere Spa’s and are directly involved in the management of the Company and in the sharing of its profit. 40% of the company’s revenues go to Peccioli’s Municipality and is an important item in its budget. Profits have been used in multiple ways: improving the existing waste management system, R&D on renewable energy and environmental impact, tax reduction for the community (TARSU and ICI), reduced price schemes (the Peccioli Card gives discounts when shopping at local retailers) and special allowances for public services (schooling, social recreation, special training).

WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT? ______

• Key Success Factors: - The “Peccioli Method” consists of solving any issue through direct dialogue between local administrators and citizens. Projects are not imposed on the community; the public is instead involved in all Projects with a leading role in the achievement of their goals. - The Public Company status of the business allows the citizen to join the Belvedere SPA’s policies and decisions and to share part of the profit. - In such a touristic destination, the endless concern for environmental matters allowed Peccioli to get the Bandiera Arancione - a recognition of quality awarded by the TCI to small towns for excellency in tourism, hospitality and environmental protection – and the prestigious European EMAS Award (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) for the waste treatment plant. - A remarkable share of the revenues generated by the waste treatment disposal allowed the Municipality to reduce taxes and to invest in initiatives of public interest.

• Challenges and solutions: - In the Eighties local residents used to face the environmental emergency with the Nimby syndrome (Not in my back yard). A serious dialogue between local administrators and local residents led the community to take responsible decisions about waste disposal, transports and energy production. This enabled the transition from Ninby to Pimby (Please in my back yard).

1 – Waste disposal plant

The waste disposal plant is located in “Belvedere – ”, a scarcely populated farming area set in the hills in the north— eastern part of the Peccioli Municipality . The technology used for this plant is powered by energy recovered from Biogas waste treatment. The aim of this plant is to provide waste management and production of electrical power from renewable sources .

In the Eighties the situation was one of environmental emergency because of the presence of leachate on the dump’s surface. In

Situation in the 80’s–leachate showing the 90’s the environmental rehabilitation process started, with the aim of recovering new spaces and make them available to the

area’s municipalities and to the regional emergency. In 1995 works to optimize the site through a cogeneration plant and a district heating plant began. The main objectives were: the increase of biogas production to favor industrial exploitation, the production of electricity, the fulfillment of the district’s heating need in Legoli through the cooling-off process of the co-generator, and the recovery of financial resources to be made available to the village for revitalization projects of the area. In 2005 another project was launched, which consisted in further expansion of available spaces to increase the inserting of waste materials, the building of a depuration plant for leachate waters, the increase of electricity generation to sell to Enel through the expansion of the cogeneration plant and the landscape optimization of the site. The plant’s surface is actually 110.000 m2 and its volume is 1.900.000 m3. The facility receives solid urban waste from the provinces of e Massa Carrara; solid urban waste and overflow waste from the provinces of Prato and (CER 191212); waste assimilated with urban waste from industries in the Municipalities of Peccioli and (max 100 ton/year – CER 030105 and 170802). As well as ISO certification, the plant has also been granted EMAS certification.

Current state

2 – Generation of electric and thermal power

Belvedere Spa produces electrical power from biomasses and in 2008 its production was 7.912.360 kwh. In 2008 Belvedere Spa produced the equivalent of 2.600 families’ annual energy consumption. A redoubling of this result is forecasted with the introduction of new motors (currently underway). The plant also produces thermal power and in 2007 its production was of 1.380 kw. Part of this energy is used for treatment and depuration plants (959 kw) and part for the district heating of the hamlet of Legoli (250 kw). From 1999 a district heating plant started working to supply over 100 families. It uses the thermal recovery of the cogeneration plant fed with biogas (from garbage disposal plant). The advantages are:

District Heating plant - Use of heat from biogas as a free energy source - Increased environmental safety thanks to the removal of many smaller boilers scattered on the territory.

Using the thermal energy recovered with the cogeneration it is possible to depurate the leachate: the watery part (90%) of the leachate is evaporated; the remaining 10% of the solid pollutant (now mud), is put back into the waste mass through a pump system; in the evaporation phase the water is re-condensed, treated with chemical additives to eliminate pollutants and stocked in a catch basin. It is then reused for all the plant’s industrial needs, thus reducing fresh water consumption.

District Heating plant

3 – A Hectare of Sky: the first public participation solar energy farm. The largest in Tuscany.

In 2008 Belvedere S.p.A. accomplished “A Hectare of Sky” , the first public participation solar energy farm with a capacity of 1000 KWp. To finance the construction of the plant, Belvedere S.p.A. went for a hybrid solution: half of the financial resources were their own while the other half came from the investment of local residents, who get a financial return spanning from 5,5% to 6,5%, depending on the duration of the investment. Technology Used: Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline panels with variable nominal power between 160 W and 180W . Purpose of the plant: electricity production from photovoltaic source and raise awareness in the local community about environmental issues. Location: Loc. “La fila” – Municipality of Peccioli (PI) Surface: around 3 hectares Facility ownership and Management: Belvedere S.p.A. Area of competency: The generated power is entered in the electricity grid and it is sold to the National Electricity Grid “Terna S.p.A”. Total investment: 5,5 Million Euro Completion Time : 4 months (from September 2008 to December 2008) Economic Impact For about 300 bondholders that have an economic return. Royalties and/or tax benefits for the local residents those that have invested in the 7 years convertible bond loan are due a gross annual interests of 5,5%, while those that have invested in the 12 years bond loan are due a gross annual interests of 6,5%. Environmental Impact If it is true that photovoltaic plants can be said to have a low impact, we can well say that “A Hectare of Sky ” has an even lower impact because its panels are installed with a 26° angle, much narrower than most existing plants’ 30° angle.

“A hectare of sky” is composed of panels arranged in just two lines and it lies on a territory that continues to be a farming area. It was even possible to fit in some vegetable gardens for local people (the “Productive Vegetables Gardens”). Mitigation works The area around the plant has been made available to local residents to make them familiarize with a new peaceful and friendly element that has been installed to generate power. For this reason, at first Belvedere opened 4 vegetable gardens within the fences of the plant, setting up a subscription system for Peccioli people to register their interest in using them. Then, since the initiative achieved an astounding success, Belvedere Spa was forced to broaden the availability using the remaining area. The total number of gardens amounts now to 25; all this in a people’s democracy mindset. Plant power generation The plant “A hectare of sky” generates

1.300.000 KWh/year. The electric power generated by the photovoltaic plants opened after 04/13/07 (publication date of the Deliberation AEEG n. 90/07) and before 31 December 2008, has the right to be sold at an incentive tariff ( Feed-in Tariff ). The Feed-in Tariff corresponds to an economic recognition from GSE for every kwh generated by the plant. Tariffs are allocated for 20 years, starting from the plant’s first day of production and are not to be changed for the entire period. They are not subject to ISTAT adjustments.

4 - Small wind turbines plant

Belvedere S.p.A. is considering to build a wind farm - to generate elettric power from renewable sources - to give the chance to local residents to invest in projects with relevant economic and environmental interest.

Futures Projects:

An anemometer has been installed 70 meters high to monitor wind power and speed and assess the feasibilty of a 40 MW turbine plant.

Some technical informations : Number Buckets: 4 Total nominal power (kw): 100 Tower’s height: 25 m Total yearly production: (Kwh)159.200

5 - Molecular dissociation plant The First European Plant that experiments this technology

Belvedere wanted to carry out an innovative research on the molecular dissociation process. Procedure : Located in the Peccioli’s Municipality (PI), the Belvedere S.p.A.’s pre- industrial pilot plant uses the molecular dissociation technology to turn organic materials into Synthetic gas (Syngas). The Syngas is combusted in an afterburner, at a temperature of about 800°, that is connected to a thermal energy recovery system. After a purifying process, according to environmental normative, the spent gas is released into the atmosphere.

Protocol with Federambiente Belvedere S.p.A., thanks to an agreement with Federambiente, has embarked upon a technical and scientific cooperation that aims to a step-by-step analysis of the experimental project progress.

The process – The process started up with the capability of managing up to 5 tons of waste per day. During a two-year trial period, different kinds of waste were tested in order to estimate their potential and to optimize the dissociation process. The experimentation also allowed the use of the waste already stocked in the dump. If this process gave positive results, it would be possible to recycle all the dump’s waste for the production of energy and even recover metal from the ashes of burned waste.

Some technical information: Cell number: 2 Total capacity of treatment (m3): 10 Treatment cycle duration (hrs): 24 Experimentation duration (months): 24 Agency/company involved: Belvedere S.p.A., CNR, Federambiente, Energo S.r.l. Experimentation objectives: Check environmental and industrial sustainability

6- Energy produced and proceeds

WASTE TREATMENT SYSTEMS : operational since 2002 Area: 25 hectares Production of Energy in 2008(Kwh): 7.912.820 Turnover in 2008: 1.507.995,06 € Subscribed Capital: Peccioli Municipality 53.69% 900 small shareholders 46.31%

A HECTAR OF SKY Area: 3 hectares Plant cost: 5,000,000 € Number of bondholders: 350 Plant power: 992 kwp Yearly production of energy: 1.300.000 Yearly expected profit: 572,000 € (104,000 from electricity sales and 468 from feed-in tariffs) Demand (families): 448

WINDPOWER PLANT : Plant cost: 260,000 Yearly energy production: 159.200 Yearly expected profit: 47.600 ROI: 5,5 years

MOLECULAR DISSOCIATION PLANT Experimentation’s Objectives: Environmental and industrial sustainability check

Total Production: 10.000.000 kwh per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of 3,500 families.

We are going to reach the production target of: 17.000.000 kwh per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of 5,800 families.