The second edition of “65 percent and beyond”, The event organized by Messinaservizi Bene Comune who put the debate at the center of the debate Messina model in waste management. A two -day comparison that saw the participation of administrators, institutions, experts in the sector and representatives of the main national consortia for the recovery and recycling of packaging. Messina confirms itself as a city on the front line, reaching a separate collection fee of 58.57 percent in 2024, despite the difficulty linked to the lack of plants on the territory. A result made possible by the strategic vision of the De Luca and Basile administrations, by the management choices of Messinaservizi Common Good and by the daily commitment of the citizens, who have been able to embrace the change and actively contribute to the growth of the system.
Federico Basile: “Messina is today a mature and aware city”
“The results achieved by our city today can only fill us with pride. Messina reached 58.57 percent of separate collection in 2024, a result that also had a direct impact on citizens’ pockets. Today Messina is the second metropolitan city in Italy for the lowest cost of the waste tax (Tari), with an amount of 302.60 euros per year for a type type. An extraordinary result, if we consider that cities like Genoa pay over 507 euros and Naples almost 493 euros. In Sicily, Messina is confirmed as the capital with the lowest waste tax, while in Catania the cost is 475 euros. Experience teaches us that refusal is no longer a problem, but a resource. I had the opportunity to see it recently in Ecomondo, together with the president of Messinaservizi, where we saw how simple cigarette butts can be generated new opportunities. This must be our goal: to work together to improve the quality of life in our cities, not only in terms of cleaning, which is a duty of the administration, but above all by spreading the culture of recycling and sustainability. If Messina had not invested in separate collection, today citizens would pay a waste tax of over 505 euros, as shown in the data. Thanks to an efficient system, however, we managed to contain it for 303 euros and, without the increase in costs due to expensive disposal, it would even have dropped to 232 euros. Our commitment has made Messina a model, with a cost lower than the national average of the Tari, which stands at 337.77 euros. But we can do even more. If in Sicily we had the systems necessary for the management of the integrated waste cycle, the costs for citizens would be even lower. This is why the challenge we launch today is clear: to equip the Sicily of the infrastructures necessary to close the waste cycle and further reduce the costs for families. The good politics is the one that brings concrete results, which improves people’s lives. And we, with our administration, are showing that it is possible to do it ”.
Mariagrazia Interdonato: “Messinaservizi, from an empty box to a model for the South”
«In 2017 Messinaservizi was in fact, an empty box. However, thanks to the political-administrative will of two mayors, Cateno De Luca and Federico Basile, today has become a model not only for Southern Italy, but also for the entire region. This shows that it can be done. The merit also goes to the governance strategies adopted, which have made it possible to transform the company into a point of reference. Today Messinaservizi has not only improved separate collection, but has also strengthened its organic equipment. It currently has 720 employees, with over 300 new hires made through two calls: one in 2021 and the last in 2023. The latter, in particular, has made it possible to enhance fundamental activities such as collection and sweeping, improving urban decorum. In addition, it has allowed the hiring of staff dedicated to green maintenance. Today we can be satisfied with the progress made, but we know that nothing is obvious. It is essential to continue working with determination to consolidate and further improve the results obtained “.
Plant engineering and results
Of the results achieved by the company and the need to fill the gap concerning the plant engineering, the general manager of the Messinaservizi Michele Trimboli also spoke: “The strategic choices and innovation are to guarantee concrete results. One of the key interventions, Trimboli said, is the construction of an proximity system for the treatment of undifferentiated residual urban waste, which could immediately bring a saving of 3 million euros. It is an intermediate structure, easily achievable and with slender authorization procedures. But the question is not only cheap: improving the infrastructure means guaranteeing a more efficient service to citizens. Another fundamental piece is the plant for the treatment of the organic fraction, which would allow the entire metropolitan area of Messina to make a qualitative leap in terms of self -sufficiency and economic sustainability. The last large plant in the area dates back to 1998: it is time to fill this void and equip the territory with adequate structures “.
The appeal for thermovalism
Words of complacency for the results obtained were also expressed by the Hon. Giuseppe Lombardo at the helm of the Messinaservizi from 2018 to 2022 who launched an appeal to President Schifani: “Today we celebrate a path started in 2018, when the city was perpetually in an emergency and submerged by waste. The administration led by Cateno De Luca faced this challenge with determination, between obstacles and internal resistances that tried to prevent change. We made courageous decisions. In just five months, with teamwork, we overturned the situation, showing that with will and management capacity the change is possible. Today we deliver to her, President, the witness of a model that works, a model that has allowed Messina to turn the page. The next step must be the completion of the cycle with the realization of thermalovators, essential to definitively close the circle of waste management in Sicily. The Messina model shows that if you want, you can. Now – concluded Lombardo – addressing the president, it’s up to her. And since she wants, then she can do it. “
The satisfaction of Lo Giudice and De Luca
Danilo Lo Giudice, president of the Srr Messina Metropolitan Area, clarified “How Srr we did our best to continue the route, also involving the other 46 municipalities belonging to the field of the metropolitan area. Today we are finally ready to publish the tender for the Mil plant, thanks to the loan obtained through the PNRR funds, equal to 27 million euros, and to further regional commitment. At the same time, we manage to be one of the areas with an average of 63 percent of separate collection, an extraordinary result that demonstrates the administrative capacity and strategic vision that has characterized our activity. Our wish is that this ‘Messina model’ can become a ‘Sicily model’ to improve our land and demonstrate that when you want to do things, you can do it “.
Cateno De Luca in his speech retraced some of the crucial moments of the administrative path that led Messina to be a model today. “We started in 2018 from an extremely complex context, with an inheritance of forty years of immobility and structural difficulties. Today, in 2025, we are at the center of a transformation that shows how, even in difficult situations, with the will to do, concrete results can be achieved. This is the greatest satisfaction: seeing that commitment and determination lead to real changes. For too long, Messina was remembered only for its critical issues: the city of garbage, shacks, financial instability. Today, however, we begin to be mentioned for positive results in urban services and in the management of the territory. When we intervened on Messinaservizi, we found ourselves in front of a company without means and without prospects. Today, thanks to efficient management, it has become a point of reference in separate collection and urban cleaning. However, to ensure the success of these interventions, it is essential that each institutional level does its part. We cannot continue to undergo the inefficiencies of a system that does not work: if in other Italian regions the waste treatment chain is well structured, here in Sicily we still find ourselves fighting with infrastructure deficiencies. Finally, there is another fundamental aspect: the relationship between the regional government and the mayors. Too often the decisions are taken far from the territories, without listening to those who face the real problems of citizens every day. A change of approach is needed, approaching the regional governance to the needs of cities. We mayors cannot afford to waste time with sterile controversies: our goal is to work to improve people’s lives, and to do so you need synergies, listening and concrete actions. My commitment remains the same: to build a better Sicily, where those who have the task of administering can do so with adequate tools, without bureaucratic obstacles and with a clear vision of the future. Because in the end, what really matters is to leave something concrete to those who come after us ”. Messina virtuous example for separate collection and sustainability for the president of Utilitalia Filippo Brandolini: “Messina represents a positive model and a concrete example of how excellent results can be obtained in separate collection. Often we tend to think that in the south certain challenges are More difficult, but this city shows that, with a political will and a good organization, it is possible to make the difference. Waste cycle in the city, but also contributes to the industrial growth of utilities in southern Italy, participating in the south network contract together with Sicilian, Apulian and bells companies, to strengthen the entrepreneurial and industrial capacity of the sector. “
Schifani on the “Messina model”: “It is a flagship in our region”
And in conclusion, the Messina model was also recognized by the president of the region Renato Schifani: “I know well how Messina is a flagship metropolitan city of our region. I turn little and I don’t like to do walkways – underlined the president of the region -. I acknowledge that Messina has arrived close to 60 percent, Catania is 31 percent. My Palermo is 13 percent in the differentiated. And today I say to my city: wake up. We must take example from administrative realities such as Messina. I appreciate the administrative work of my former opponent De Luca and those mayors, such as Basile, who carry on the needs of their territories “. Conclusions: the path continues the second edition of “65 percent and beyond” closes with a clear message: Messina is a concrete example of how the management of emergency waste to resource can be transformed. The next step is to consolidate the results, further improve the quality of the collection and, above all, to guarantee Sicily the infrastructures necessary to close the waste cycle. The appointment is at the next edition, to continue to tell a path of growth and innovation that does not stop.