Activities and services

The main urban waste management services provided by the Hera Group consist of waste collection (separated and non-separated) and municipal environmental services (street sweeping, collection of illegally dumped refuse, graffiti removal, etc.). The services provided are tailored to the specific local requirements and are designed to be complementary, including for example the removal of litter from beaches or cleaning of building facades. Asbestos removal, where this is carried out, is especially popular.

Hera has developed an organisational model for the separate and non-separate collection of urban waste which is based on the management experience of one of its local founding companies: the study and analysis of best management practices made it possible to base the new organisational model on the consolidated wealth of knowledge and experience we have acquired over the decades.

Hera’s Waste Management System (WMS) consists of three main services:

• local collection: for domestic and small non-domestic users, carried out according to methods that fit best with the context served (mainly basic drop-off points with the IEB model, also with closure systems, domestic systems); in some special cases underground drop-off points (IEI) are used; 
• “target user” residential collection: aimed at non-domestic users that produce specific waste similar to urban waste (cardboard in shops, glass or cans in bars, organic waste in canteens or restaurants, etc.);
• Ecological Stations: also known as Collection Centres, these are infrastructures that complete the range of services offered to residents for dropping off all types of separated urban waste, including hazardous waste. In some municipalities, innovative services are also in operation such as Ecomobile (furniture collection points) and Ecoself (self-service collection points).

The system is also integrated with the domestic collection of bulky waste (free of charge, by phone call or by appointment), the collection of green waste, and the collection of other types of hazardous waste from specific centres (e.g. batteries and medicines).

The IEB (Basic Drop-Off Points) model involves the distribution of the various bins at a single collection point where it is possible to drop off the main types of materials: non-separated waste, paper, plastic, glass, cans, organic waste, green waste (some materials can also be dropped off in combined form); the aim is to increase the efficiency of separate waste collection and improve its urban impact. The IEB model reduces the number of bins for mixed waste collection, in favour of those for separate waste collection.

Page updated 8 August 2019