Giving manufacturing leftovers from the Prato textile industry to Pistoia greenhouse managers who need fabric to wrap up vases or plant roots. Or, perhaps, create new work opportunities from the re-utilisation of packaging produced in Lucca paper factories. These are possible applications of Closed, a project that wants to define innovative strategies to reduce company waste (and the consequent disposal costs), improve environmental management systems and develop new work opportunities, which involves 70 small and medium companied active in three Tuscany industrial districts: textile in Prato, paper in Lucca and greenhouses in Pistoia.The project, promoted by Arpat (the regional agency for environmental protection in Tuscany) and the consulting firm Ecosistemi, is the first result of the European Programme "Life Ambiente" and it was financed by the EU for its 40%.
On the whole it will cost two billion lira and it will last for two years. "It is the first time we try to develop an environment management system that is specific for each district - Laura Della Mora, one of the project's supervisors, explains - since up to now, on a European level, we've been looking more towards the great companies or small and medium enterprises but not within the context of a district area ".
One of the pillars the future model of eco-industrial model will base itself on is the exchange of waste materials among the companies active in the territory, with the aim to use them again as raw materials within production processes. "We are already thinking of a network connection of companies and the creation of a "Virtual Stock exchange" to define the exchanges of materials. The birth of a technological network will be analysed in its feasibility" - Della Mora says.
In any case solutions will be elaborated next year, after concluding figures collection and having pinpointed critical environment impact factors". The Closed project uses priori experiences in closed cycle management systems, already carried out abroad, particularly in Kalundborg in Denmark, first application model if industrial ecology in Europe, and in North Carolina.
October.2001
