PRESS RELEASE
PLANT OPEN DAY: BEYOND THE RIHABITAT GATES A MODEL PLANT IS REVEALED FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL RECOVERY OF A DEPLETED MINE
Saturday 13 May was a special day for the community of Sezzadio, Pedrosa and neighbouring municipalities, as the gates of RiHabitat were opened, the Riccoboni S.p.A. plant for the disposal of non-hazardous and non-recoverable special waste, while also involving the environmental recovery of a depleted mine.
The CEO, Angelo Riccoboni, and site managers welcomed citizens and the authorities: the Councillor for Agriculture of the Region of Piedmont, Marco Protopapa, the Head of the Lega Group at the Chamber of Deputies, Riccardo Molinari, various mayors and municipal council members, as well as representatives from environmental associations went on a guided tour of this safe, cutting-edge plant that meets legal requirements and acts as an environmental stronghold for the benefit of the whole community.
“We were delighted to be able to allow citizens and institutional representatives”, declared Angelo Riccoboni, the Riccoboni Holding CEO, “to come and discover this plant, which is already a model due to the features of its construction and management, and can also generate value for the region. RiHabitat is an environmental stronghold for the benefit of the whole community. This Plant Open Day allowed visitors to discover a cutting-edge project for the environmental recovery of a depleted mine, a safe plant with a modern design for the disposal of non-hazardous, non-recoverable special waste. The production of special waste concerns all of us and the construction of plants like this one guarantees that this waste is managed legally”.
The RiHabitat plant divided into eight sectors has been up and running since July 2022. The first one is currently in cultivation, while the fifth and sixth are in construction.
RiHabitat’s total capacity is 1,213,475 m3 (volume of waste and volume of final coverage) which stretches over an area of 122,500 m2. The total volume available for waste placement is 965,975 m3.
The site’s job is to hold five types of non-hazardous special waste (excavated earth and rock, solid waste from soil remediation, solidified waste from processing plants, construction and demolition waste, and stabilised waste from processing plants), i.e. industrial waste, demolition materials and remediated soil. As these types of materials are non-degradable, they do not generate odours or their own leachates.
“Plant Open Day” was an ecological tourism experience for citizens to see up close the current state of the plant being cultivated, to discover the features of its construction and to imagine the final configuration which, at the end of cultivation, will bring back the morphological system prior to the mining, restoring the integrity of the area’s landscape and environment with regards to the surrounding region through a recovery plan including full measures to restore the natural environment. The project involves the creation of a cover of grass and planting approximately 1800 native plants per hectare over an area of about 10 hectares.
“Plant Open Day starts a new phase of meetings and dialogue with local communities”, explained Angelo Riccoboni, “in order to create a path of knowledge and awareness about the circular economy and protecting the environment through meeting legal requirements”.
