In trash-strewn Italy, a city cleans up
In a region with a chronic waste problem and 12 percent recycling rate, one mayor successfully led a recycling revolution.
from the July 12, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Tax breaks for compliance
Romano has also introduced tax breaks for those who recycle more. Every family and business has bar-coded labels to stick to the colored sacks, and every sack is scanned when it is collected.
The more one recycles, the more money is deducted from one's city taxes at the end of the year. While an average family saves about ¤40 euros ($55) per year, some businesses have managed to save up to ¤200 (more than $250.)
"The mechanism is psychological. People start looking for material to recycle. They start pulling it out of the black sacks [that contain non-recyclable material], because in this way they have financial benefits," says Romano.
Ice cream shop owner Nicola Iannone and his daughter-in-law Luisa Di Somma emphatically praise the system.
"We start work at 5 a.m. and the roads are already clear. All those stinky bins and those mountains of garbage are not around anymore," they say.
"We don't have all the chaos they have in Naples," adds Maria Cerrato, a passerby. "It's better for the children and for the elderly, it's better for the entire town."
EU cracks down on Italy
With the garbage emergency come health and environmental risks. According to recent data published in the Corriere del Mezzogiorno newspaper, 43 percent of Italy's polluted territory lies in Campania. And the World Health Organization has indicated that the largest dumps pose a serious health threat to babies in the womb.
Things worsened after the closure of the last official dump at the end of May. And last month, the European Commission issued a written warning and requested information on what measures to quell the situation have been taken in Campania. If the Italian government failsto tackle the crisis, the European Court of Justice can impose a financial penalty.
Plans for an incinerator are being opposed by residents as well as the local mafia, the Camorra, which has economic interests in the waste management business and profits hugely from the crisis.
Romano says that the city's experience can inspire other towns to drop the methods that favor the Camorra. Already, that is happening in a few dozen boroughs.
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