28 March 2024

During the spring of 2022, two beehives were placed in the area of the waste-to-energy plant: the presence of bees made it possible to carry out biomonitoring of environmental matrices in the area. In particular, approximately 120,000 bees have been placed in the hives, which are able to pollinate about 60 million flowers every day in the area surrounding the plant; providing an estimated production of about 20 kg of honey per year.
Similarly to what has been done in the first experiment carried out in Iren Energia’s Torino Nord cogeneration plant, a monitoring of the air quality and of the different environmental matrices has been carried out over the past few months through a constant observation of the bees’ behaviour, their health and their honey production capacity.
The first analyses, in particular, established the healthiness of the insects and the honey produced, confirming the quality of the air and the area as a whole.
The trial was carried out precisely with the objective of developing an innovative tool for monitoring air quality and various environmental matrices through observation of bee behaviour, health and honey production capacity.
The operators of Apicolturaurbana.it, a partner in the initiative, carried out the biomonitoring; they had access to the beehives to carry out two separate analyses: on the one hand, verifying the behaviour of the community and recording changes, if any, and, on the other hand, collecting samples of honey, bees, wax and bee cake (pollen) to analyse the presence of pollutants or hazardous substances.
The analyses carried out, which took into account numerous parameters and substances in the samples, established that the materials from the hives are healthy, including the honey produced, which is therefore perfectly edible. The area taken into consideration, which corresponds to the bees’ flying area, extends up to three kilometres from the hives, confirming the healthiness not only of the area closest to the plant, but also in the surrounding areas.
In the meantime, the beehives and the biomonitoring project have become a stop point in the path of educational visits for students and local stakeholders that TRM is carrying out, thanks to the direct involvement of Eduiren, with the aim of sensitising the younger generations on the importance of maintaining biodiversity and having respect for the environment, and how it is possible to do business in a sustainable way, one that is respectful of nature.

To view the article in Corriere ed. Turin click here