Italy's Waste Definition a Gift to Eco-crime

ROME, Italy, August 6, 2002 (ENS) - Four of Italy's leading environmental groups have failed in a last minute attempt to block parliamentary approval of a government decree narrowing the country's legal definition of waste.

In a letter sent last Wednesday to a parliamentary committee investigating illegal waste collection and disposal, the environmantal groups urged committee chairman Paolo Russo to stop the decree in its tracks.

But the new rules were approved on Friday, only hours before the parliament's summer recess, as part of a wider package of measures on which the government requested a vote of confidence.

Garbage (Photo credit unknown)

This will harm the legitimate business activities of firms involved in the waste cycle, and cause untold damage to the environment, they warn. The four environmental groups are WWF Italy, Legambiente, Greenpeace and Italy Ours.

Illegal disposal of waste is a very serious problem in Italy, and has traditionally attracted the involvement of criminal gangs, especially in the southern regions where the stranglehold of the mafia is particularly strong.

Environmental offences show no sign of abating in Italy, according to environmental group Legambiente's annual report on eco-crime, released in April. More than 31,000 offences were recorded, ranging from illegal disposal of waste to unauthorized building activities and wild animal trafficking.

In its 300 page report, summarizing data from various enforcement bodies, environment agencies and other stakeholders, Legambiente paints a picture of widespread lawlessness particularly in the southern regions of Campania, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, where more than half of recorded offences took place.

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}