The garbage that has been piling up in the centre of Naples was being cleared, as the city’s new mayor vowed to take on the power of organised crime in the waste disposal business.
Luigi De Magistris, who came to power last month defeating a candidate from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, also said he wanted the city to be recycling 70 per cent of its waste by the end of this year.
The local waste collection company Asia said there were still an estimated 1,430 tons in the streets on Tuesday compared to levels of up to 3,000 tons in recent days – although piles remain on the outskirts of the city.
Mr De Magistris accused the Camorra crime syndicate of orchestrating acts of vandalism including setting fire to garbage piles and blocking garbage trucks in order to stop him from putting in place an ambitious recycling plan.
“It is clear that there are powerful and criminal interests that are trying to put a spanner in the works but we are stronger,” Mr De Magistris was quoted as saying as he inaugurated a new recycling area in the city.
In an interview with Radio 24, the mayor said: “Naples is on the way to achieving door-to-door collection across the city” of recycling waste.
There would also be a timetable for collection of different types of waste.
“Everyone wants to contribute. Even the prisoners at (the local prison of) Poggioreale are doing recycling,” he added.
“This is a tough and difficult battle but people are sensitive on this issue,” Mr de Magistris said, calling for help from regional authorities.
With landfills in the Naples area overflowing, other regions have proposed taking the city’s garbage but the Northern League party, a key coalition partner, is blocking a government decree that would allow these transfers.
The European Commission warned Italy that it risks fines unless it improves waste collection in Naples where thousands of tons of garbage have built up in recent days.
Exasperated residents have taken to setting alight mounds of rubbish in the southern city where landfill sites are overflowing.
The crisis in the Campania region led the European Commission to open what is known as an infringement procedure against Italy in 2007.
But Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said that little or no progress has been made in finding a solution.
“The absence of such improvements leaves the commission with little choice but to actively pursue the infringement procedure,” he said in a statement.
“Unless the situation is reversed in due time, this could lead to financial sanctions being imposed on Italy by the European Court of Justice.
“I would hope that Italian authorities at all levels take the matter in hand so that tax payers’ money goes to improving the situation on the ground rather than to paying fines.”