I'm coming very high fines for those who dirty streets, squares and public places in general. Throwing the bar receipt into the street after coffee will cost up to 150 euros, while for an extinguished cigarette butt on the sidewalk with the heel of a shoe, the price to pay rises to 300 euros. The predicts it Connected Environment which Parliament definitively approved yesterday, 22 December.
Will the fines be able to transform Italian citizens (but also the many foreign tourists who adapt without difficulty to local customs) into people who are more attentive and respectful of the environment and public land? We will see it but in the meantime we can hope for it after the definitive approval of the Connected Environment, a sort of green agenda of the country which in 79 articles of law outlines the road towards decarbonisation and the circular economy.
The article intended to involve all Italians is the one that sanctions with fines from 30 to 150 euros the abandonment on the ground, in the waters, in the drains and in the drains – that is, in any place that is not a wastebasket, reports the Ansa agency – of small-sized waste, from chewing gum to handkerchiefs. The fines double if you throw cigar or cigarette butts on the ground, for which the Municipalities will have to equip roads, parks and places of aggregation with special collectors.
With the new law, animals are no longer assets subject to attachment by Equitalia, those belonging to the debtor's affection or company, and those used for therapeutic purposes or to assist the debtor, spouse, partner or children.
Citizens could be asked to bring back bottles of water and beer. Indeed, on an experimental basis and on a voluntary basis, the "returnable emptiness" is back in bars, hotels and restaurants, who can decide to apply a deposit at the time of purchase, returning the money if the person returns to deliver the empty container.
On the waste front, the first culprits will obviously be the Municipalities. The new ecotax on landfills rewards the most virtuous cities and penalizes those that do not meet the minimum separate collection targets, with possible positive or negative consequences for the waste tax.
The Connected then puts on the plate 35 million euros for sustainable mobility projects. Car-pooling, car-sharing, bike-pooling, bike-sharing and pedestrian bus initiatives could therefore spring up in the city, which in the last three cases, in addition to reducing smog, contrast a sedentary life. Anyone who decides to go to work by bike will be covered by Inail insurance in the event of an accident. Italians who want to be environmentally sustainable will have a new tool, the "Made Green in Italy". It is a voluntary brand to communicate the environmental footprint of our products. Consumers will be able to choose to favor the certified "zero kilometre" of fruit and vegetables, or low-impact industrial productions.
Confagricoltura applauds to the final approval of the measure. According to the association of agricultural entrepreneurs "the role of agriculture in the mitigation of climate change has finally been highlighted - comments the Organization of agricultural entrepreneurs - recognizing its economic value, as in the case of the introduction of remuneration systems for ecosystem and environmental services”.
With the new provision, all agricultural services will be remunerated, notes a note from the association, "with particular attention to the carbon fixation of forests and wood arboriculture, to the regulation of
waters in mountain basins, to safeguard biodiversity and the landscape. Furthermore, with the introduction of the voluntary “Made Green in Italy” brand which uses the methodology for determining theenvironmental footprint of products (PEF), it will be easier to buy products from Italian sustainable farms”.
Finally, public supply contracts will be "greener", giving purchasing priority to those products and to those companies that can demonstrate their sustainability according to international quality schemes.
“The law – explains Confagricoltura – goes in the direction we have taken with the Ecocloud project, aimed precisely at promoting agricultural businesses that have adopted innovative production technologies and regulations, capable of guaranteeing the improvement of product performance and, in particular, the reduction of environmental impacts.
