Waste incinerators have never gone down well with the Five Stars. Having chosen as Minister of the Environment a military man who worked in Campania's Land of Fires, they have not missed an opportunity to turn that opposition into striking actions. Lastly, the Marche Region is paying the price, whose law on the treatment of waste in industrial plants has been contested by Minister Sergio Costa.
The motivation behind the stop in the Marche is that the competence lies with the government and not with the Regions. The law is, therefore, unconstitutional and should not be enforced. In truth, environmentalists have pointed out, the Marches law prevents the burning of waste in the classic way of incinerators, in the sense that harmful combustion processes are forbidden, with the exception of biomethane.
Obviously the Minister made no mistake. He wasn't wrong. He simply wants to change the rule of the SalvaItalia Decree which provides for 12 new waste treatment plants, including the one in the Marche region. “We are working on legislation aimed at reducing waste production and increasing sorting”, says Costa.
From an industrial and environmental point of view, however, the government should be reminded that separate waste collection is a very complex activity in Italy. The 47 functioning incinerators managed by companies with good performance and adequate levels of controls have solved many emergencies. Does anyone remember the one in Naples in 2011? The crisis symbol of a country unable to find adequate solutions to a huge problem, while organized crime was doing its business? Wouldn't it be wiser to recognize that in the difficulties of hundreds of municipalities, industrial plants help? Certainly they must not be harmful and differentiated waste collection and the circular economy are welcome. But why not also take a look at the streets of Rome?
The regional governors do not have to intervene and the companies ready to participate in the tenders for the plants stand still. In the end, the government dispute with the Marche says this. Times and norms yet to come. The previous government suspected of wanting to favor who knows what business, with eco-mafias that have a turnover of 14 billion euros and treat over 4 million tons of illegal waste.
