Deliver-or-pay waste incinerator contract (Pietrasanta, Italy)
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A waste-to-energy plant contract in Italy required a minimum of 10,000 tonnes a year. When separate collection rose and deliveries fell below it, the operator asked for €13 million and the municipalities paid €5 million.
As stated in the sources reviewed; the municipalities' payment is described there as a penalty.
Status Around 2017: municipalities paid €5 million against a €13 million claim; no later development found in the sources reviewed.
- The plant operator (name not on record) — Received €5 million after asking for €13 million.
- The municipalities — Paid €5 million.
What happened
A contract for a waste-incineration plant serving Pietrasanta and other municipalities in Italy set a minimum delivery of 10,000 tonnes of waste a year. Such "deliver-or-pay" (put-or-pay) clauses make the municipality liable for the operator's loss if it supplies less.
Separate collection approached the 65% target, and deliveries to the plant fell below the contractual threshold. The operator asked for €13 million. The municipalities paid €5 million, around 2017.
The sources reviewed describe the clause as removing the plant's risk from falling waste volumes: a fall in waste became a debt of the municipalities. The name of the operator and its profit are not published in these sources.
- 2017Deliveries fall below the 10,000-tonne annual minimum as separate collection nears 65%; operator asks €13 million; municipalities pay €5 million (around 2017)
How it looked
Shown
- Waste-to-energyMunicipality and plant operator, as the plant is described
Recorded
- Minimum delivery of 10,000 tonnes a year in the incinerator contract
- Separate collection approaching the 65% target; deliveries below the threshold
- Operator's claim: €13 million; municipalities' payment: €5 million
- In general, incineration contracts run 20–30 years and include minimum tonnage (as stated in the sources reviewed)
- In 2017 the European Commission warned about overcapacity and investments that would stand idle (as stated in the sources reviewed)
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Record
- Not disclosed The name of the plant operator and its profit are not published in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the municipalities other than Pietrasanta.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable: no harm to a site or habitat is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
The municipalities paid €5 million to the operator.