Reclamation: Italy Discovers a New €3.5 Billion Industry: The Potential of Regeneration

A sector often perceived as a mere expense is now a robust industry with annual revenues of €3.5 billion, over €1.3 billion in added value, and 23,000 specialized workers. This is the snapshot captured by the first Economic Report on the Remediation Market, presented on September 18, 2025, during the second day of RemTech Expo in Ferrara . This unprecedented initiative was born from the collaboration between RemTech and a large committee of promoters that includes prominent figures from across the entire supply chain.

The document, the result of the work of an industrial and professional team that brings together multi-utilities, general contractors, engineering firms, and trade associations, systemizes previously dispersed data for the first time . The goal is to provide a policy and business tool to give scale, rules, and perspective to a strategic sector for regional regeneration . The broader ecosystem of environmental companies employs approximately 88,000 people, demonstrating the sector's impact on the economy and quality of life.

Despite its potential, the sector still faces complex procedures and fluctuating demand. Therefore, the Report identifies several key priorities: a uniform pricing framework nationwide, streamlined procedures with clear regional direction, and a reward system for companies that invest in technology and expertise . Legality is considered a competitive advantage, to be strengthened through tools such as legality ratings and White List registration to raise standards and select only qualified operators.

On the technological front, the sector demonstrates maturity and capacity for innovation. Alongside traditional interventions, lower-impact, on-site solutions are becoming more widespread, reducing time and disruption. This trend marks an evolving market, capable of integrating planning, execution, and monitoring to generate measurable environmental and economic benefits.

The Report was warmly welcomed by key players in the sector. " This Report finally provides an economic measure of what for years has been perceived merely as a cost: a sector that mobilizes resources, generates skilled employment, and improves the health of local communities. The numbers tell us that remediation is an industry, public protection, and urban regeneration, " said General Giuseppe Vadalà, Sole Government Commissioner for the Remediation of Illegal Landfills . He added that the challenge is " to transform data into concrete decisions: tenders that reward competence and integrity, clear procedures and certain timeframes, and a public-private partnership capable of bringing projects to fruition sooner and better ."

Professor Vito Felice Uricchio, Commissioner for Remediation of the Taranto area, also emphasized the importance of the study : " The publication of this first Economic Report represents a fundamental step for the remediation sector: we finally have a solid quantitative basis for assessing impacts, opportunities, and priorities ." For Uricchio, the Taranto case " demonstrates the strategic synergy between scientific knowledge, effective governance, and industrial capacity ."

Silvia Paparella, General Manager of RemTech Expo, said she was proud to have launched a " choral project that has brought together the voices of an entire industrial sector, often invisible but essential to the health of local communities and the country's competitiveness ." Paparella concluded by calling the Report an " operational, dynamic tool, built to be updated, shared, and used. We want it to become a permanent platform for dialogue between institutions, businesses, and citizens to accelerate action, improve the quality of public spending, and foster a more transparent, innovative, and responsible market ."