International Tender: Construction of a Plant to Treat Dried Sludge in Italy
It is for information to all concerned that 6th of February 2020 is the new deadline to present offers for the International Bid that had been launched by Acque Del Chiampo and Medio Chiampo in August 2019, for the construction of a new treatment plant to treat dried sludge.
The two Italian publicly controlled companies treat wastewater from households and industry, mostly tanneries. The Arzignano Tannery District is the largest in Europe in terms of value of production, according to recent data* provided by the Unione Nazionale Industria Conciaria (UNIC).
During the seventies, the environmental impact caused by tanning processes became a public concern and it triggered protests; people were asking to find a sustainable way to cope with the impact of the tannery industry.
It led to the construction, 46 years ago, of a purifier plant managed by Acque Del Chiampo, which helped improve the quality of the environment rapidly.
Nevertheless, the industrial area and its community are now facing a new challenge linked to the necessity of finding an alternative to landfills for treating dried sludge resulting from the purification processes and for setting higher standards on environmental sustainability.
Acque Del Chiampo estimates, in fact, that landfills will be exhausted over the next five years.
The topic has been in the Italian Government’s and local Administrations’ agenda for several years, and in 2005, an agreement had been signed by the Italian Ministry of the Environment, the Veneto Region and local authorities. The agreement aimed to rehabilitate the nearby river system of Fratta Gorzone for the purpose of safeguarding water resources and the environment by using new technologies as an alternative to landfill.
Following this agreement, Acque Del Chiampo and Medio Chiampo had launched an international bid at the beginning of August last year to find a new technology to treat dried sludge.
The deadline has been recently extended from 23rd December 2019 to the noon of 6th February 2020. It has been the result of an express request by one of the economic operators and in consideration of the complexity of the tender that requests also the bidders to identify an area, external to the Valle del Chiampo Basin Council, to locate the plant.
According to a draft plan by Acque Del Chiampo, the new sludge treatment system will have to be located in an area that will be able to add at least another 15,000 tonnes to the 35,000 produced by Acque Del Chiampo and Medio Chiampo, so as to justify the economy of scale.
The tender is worth 530 million euros.
Acque Del Chiampo and Medio Chiampo are now waiting for the new deadline to analyse offers and identify the technical partner that will be entrusted for the design, implementation and management of the new plant.
The tender was published on August 6th 2019 in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Info at this link: http://bit.ly/AdC_Int_Tenders
Source: BPR London, Photo: Acque del Chiampo SpA / BPR London (20.11.2019)
*) Based on 2018 data provided by the Unione Nazionale Industria Conciaria (UNIC), Italian leather sector turnover is about 4,9 billion, and Veneto district covers 58%. Italy covers 65% of the European value of production and 22% on world basis. In terms of employees, 8.550 is the quota for Veneto district on a national data of 17.700. In terms of number of companies, 1200 on national basis and 455 in Veneto.
