Landfills: still too many in Italy

Landfills, even when compliant, are the most impactful waste disposal method. When managed illegally, the situation is even worse. According to data from ISPRA ( the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) , there are approximately 22 sites in Italy that do not comply with regulations. This number is alarming, and although numerous initiatives have been launched to combat the problem, it remains an untamed cancer.

In 2019, Giuseppe Vadalà, the then Special Commissioner for the Compliance of Illegal Landfills with Current Legislation , explained that when ISPRA refers to this incredible number of illegal landfills, it isn't referring to hidden sites, but evidently to landfills in plain sight. Although hidden storage sites certainly exist, they are also present.

From 2014 to 2019, Italy managed to regularize 160 of the “regulated” landfills , even though around 40 of them still do not comply with European standards.

However, although behind schedule, the process of remediating and standardizing landfills appears to be bearing fruit, albeit slowly, in terms of waste management . But as the data clearly demonstrates, there still appears to be a long way to go.

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WHERE ARE LANDFILL SITE LOCATED IN ITALY?

Where are illegal landfills located in Italy? Mostly in the southern regions . But the reality is that the entire peninsula is in a drifting bubble.

In recent years, to gain more information and monitor illegal waste management, apps have been developed that allow individuals to anonymously report and geolocate "hidden" sites.

The name of the application is TrashOut , created by several NGOs, including Let's Do It!, a software that unites EuropaTrashOut and aims to map and discover the network of illegal landfills in the country.

To report an illegal site , simply take a photo of the illegal landfill, geolocate it, and indicate the type of waste present in each location. Once the process is complete, simply upload the report, which will immediately become visible to local authorities and environmental protection organizations.

From January 2021 to August 2022, 2.080 reports were made in Italy : none of these, according to Let's Do It! Italy's findings, were taken care of and resolved by the local authority in question.

Sixty-one percent of reported landfills are large . Puglia tops the list , with 36,5% of anonymous reports, particularly around the Altamura and Toritto areas. Campania follows the negative trend with 20,6%, mostly confined to the Metropolitan City of Naples , Sicily with 16,3%, Lazio with 7,6%, and Lombardy with 6,7%.

According to data provided by the NGO Let's Do it!, 46% of the cases are landfills used for the storage of plastic, 19% for inert materials, and 18% for municipal waste.

Furthermore, Legambiente has promoted Gaia Observer , an app with a related platform that allows users to upload georeferenced information on the environment to report, with photos, text and location, illegal sites and landfills, fires, poaching activities or other forms of crime at the expense of nature.

LARGEST LANDFILL IN ITALY

In Italy and Europe, the record for the largest landfill is held by the disused Malagrotta quarry , located on the outskirts of Rome between Fiumicino and Piana del Sole. For years, it has been considered the largest landfill in Europe, covering approximately 240 hectares and dumping approximately 5 tons of waste per day . Approximately 300 tons of sludge and waste are produced annually. This unfortunate distinction has led the landfill to be dubbed "Italy's garbage dump." The health risk to those living near the facility is high and monitored by regional authorities and NGOs.

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FINES FOR LANDFILL IN ITALY

Due to Italy's modus operandi and the entrenched presence of organized crime, Brussels initiated numerous infringement proceedings against the country between 2003 and 2022, costing Italy a staggering €275 million . Even today, although fines for illegal landfills have decreased, the problem persists. This is especially true given that infringement proceedings against Italy in general are on the rise.

According to the Department for European Policies , in 2022 Italy was among the top ten countries in terms of the number of infringement procedures opened in 2020 alone. In fact, 31 new measures were brought against it, with 86 procedures already underway.

In particular, regarding the well-known Ecoballe , a symbol of rubbish in Campania, on 16 July 2015 the European Court of Justice issued a ruling declaring that not all the measures necessary to implement the Court's first ruling of 4 March 2010 had been adopted.

Italy was therefore ordered to pay the European Commission a lump sum of 20 million euros and a daily penalty of 120.000 euros until landfills , waste-to-energy plants, and recovery plants were built.

To date, eliminating disputes over non-compliance to resolve the wastewater treatment problem , and thus the impactful lack of sewer purification, Italy will continue to pay, for inaction, a flat annual fine that could range around €40 million, with additional half-yearly fines calculated on the number of non-compliant landfills. Currently, it amounts to approximately €7 million per semester.

The picture is therefore clear, and only with policies truly geared toward solving the problem can goals be achieved. For now, the path remains unclear.

TO KNOW MORE:

• Rotterdam's first floating park that recycles plastic waste
• Lucia, 86, single-handedly cleans a beach in Ischia that has been transformed into a landfill.
• Bellolampo: The disastrous story of a landfill in the South. Emergency situations occur every six months.