Ecodom (Italian Consortium Recovery and Recycling Household appliances) celebrates ten years of activity, which have led to remarkable achievements in the world of WEEE management: more than half a billion kilowatt hours saved, more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere, and thousands of tons of recycled raw materials (more than 300,000 tons of iron, almost 14,000 tons of aluminum, more than 10,000 tons of copper and almost 46,000 tons of plastic). Ecodom retraces its first ten years of history, through the memories and comments of the four presidents that have followed. The consortium, born in November 2004, was founded by 13 well-known companies operating in Italy in the field of household appliances (Ariston Thermo, BSH Elettrodomestici, Candy Hoover Group, Faber, Franke, Haier Europe Trading, Indesit Company, JP Industries, Miele Italia, Nardi Elettrodomestici, Smeg, Tecno e Whirlpool Europe): Ecodom now has 36 members. The birth of Ecodom widely anticipated the start, in 2008, of the WEEE management by the Italian system: the consortium was a pioneer. “When the Directive came out – says Piero Moscatelli, first president of Ecodom – companies soon realized that the responsibility for the WEEE management would have been for them a wide, challenging and therefore expensive activity. Furthermore in a field where there were not solid experiences, at least in Italy. It was necessary to manage millions of pieces, and only a small business plan has been needed to understand that the formula of consortium between producers was the only feasible way, in order that the WEEE management happen in an excellent way for the environment and compatible from the point of view of the costs”.
Instead, Paolo Zocco Ramazzo, second president of the consortium, talks about the mission of Ecodom. “The goal of conciliating economic efficiency with environmental excellence – says Ramazzo – was achieved at 100%. If the mission of an organization is its ultimate goal, the justification of its existence and what distinguishes it from all others, since 2008 Ecodom, despite the difficult environment and the growing economic difficulties (2008 is the first year of the international crisis), has played its role in the best way, confirming itself during the years as the first Italian collective system for quantity of WEEE treated, and constantly pursuing the goal of improving the environmental, social and economic performances”. Alberto Borroni, third president of Ecodom, remembers the most significant moment of his presidency: the transposition of the new European Directive in the Italian legislation. “At the beginning – explains Borroni – there was great uncertainty but then, also thanks to our work of dialogue and confrontation with the legislator, a satisfactory result has been reached, even if important elements about the relations between producers and the other players in the sector are still to be defined. I think that the dialogue on these issues is going on well and that the system appears stable”. Finally, as regards to the future of the consortium, Mauro Cola, current president of Ecodom, says that for the next few years one of the main objectives to be achieved will be “to ease and make more and more synergistic the relationship between Ecodom and Ceced Italy, the association of producers, both in the exchange of experiences and in the definition of guidelines and areas of activity. After an initial pioneering experience that has been structured more and more during the years, I believe the future of Ecodom depends on the ability to create shared plannings in the places where the development initiatives for the sector are promoted”.
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