The Novel Adoption of an Industrial Ecology Approach in Managing Extreme Events: The Case Study of a Flood in Italy

Consolidated evidence demonstrates a global increase in the occurrence of natural disasters. In the management of such events, a considerable importance is attributed to the waste and debris removal and treatment methods. Indeed, a sustainable management of the event???s aftermath should include whether and how these materials can be recyclable or recoverable. The economic side obviously plays also a major role: in general, the management of these disasters can be rather costly. This study proposes an approach based on the principles of Industrial Ecology for an enhanced management of the consequences of a natural disaster. Here, the case of floods is examined. This systematic case study focuses on a flood in 2011 in central Italy and more specifically on the management of materials deposited by floodwaters, following an Industrial-Ecology logic. Indeed, this paradigm shows how these materials can be treated in an innovative and sustainable way. Finally, a carefully designed municipal or regional plan could help tackle issues that can be encountered in such cases, e.g. the surplus of materials that would need to be inserted in already-existing ecoindustrial supply chains and the capacity of the territory to return to its status prior to the disaster (resilience).