The Siciliaenergia Project, devised by Actelios S.p.A. a Falck Group company in cooperation with prestigious local partners, is amongst the most significant initiatives ever taken in Italy concerning waste management.
The project envisions the construction of as many as three out of four integrated systems contained in the regional plan in eight of the island’s nine provinces: Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Palermo, Ragusa, Siracusa, Trapani.
The aforesaid integrated systems shall generate 150 MW of energy from renewable sources and in total respect of the environment; the plants shall be located in Agrigento, Augusta and Palermo.
In economic terms, the level of investments are significant, to the tune of € 1000 million; in terms of employment, direct, indirect and in outsourcing, the figure is estimated at 1.500 workers concerning plant operations and another 1.500 during construction stage.

Actelios intends to provide a firm answer to manage the waste emergency in Sicily. First of all, the quantities of waste to be despatched to landfills shall shrink dramatically from the current total of 114 to 8 in the entire Region (which includes services provided to the consortium of companies based in North-East Sicily). In other words, the net advantage, in terms of bulk space, may be calculated as a reduction of 80% in waste volume.

The coming on-line of the integrated systems will lead to a significant change in the general outlook under the environmental viewpoint:

	nearly all landfills in Sicily shall be shut-down and secured. In environmental terms, this implies an improvement in the territorial landscape and a reduction in the occupation of the soil in addition to a drastic reduction of polluting substances in the atmosphere (carbon monoxide, natural gas, carbon dioxide, sulphuretted hydrogen) as well as safeguarding water layers that have been endangered by infiltrations of the subsoil;
	there will also be a significant reduction in atmospheric emissions of climate-altering substances. A case in point: every ton of waste incinerated equals to a reduction of 360 kg of carbon dioxide in the form of green-house gases, respect to the same quantity dumped into a landfill;
	it will be possible to produce electrical energy without resorting to fossil fuels, which translates into a reduction of greenhouse gases. In other words, when waste is converted into energy, the amount of emissions are by and large well below those generated when electric power is produced by fossil fuels.

Last but not least, a highly polluting, antiquated system shall get decommissioned and be replaced by an integrated, state-of-the-art technology in a position to provide an elevated degree of reliability, a service not only to the environment but towards the community and the public good.

The Siciliaenergia Project’s three-fold integrated systems shall be constructed and operated by the following companies:

Palermo Energia Ambiente, for the provinces of Palermo and Trapani

Tifeo Energia Ambiente, for the provinces of Enna, Ragusa, Siracusa and parts of Catania

Platani Energia Ambiente, for the provinces of Agrigento and Caltanissetta as well as a fraction of the province of Palermo.

Regarding the building design of the three Waste-to-Energy plants, the Falck Group has chosen a prominent guru of modern architecture, Kenzo Tange. Great importance has been attached to the three edifices that will rise on the Sicilian soil. The initiative is part of a thinking which calls for a new approach to the concept of waste itself – a serious and elaborate policy that faces the problem head-on instead of sweeping the whole issue under the carpet.