Italy: New Trash Mountains | European Journal

Napels is sinking in trash again. In the past, the police have shut down a number of illegal garbage dumps run by the mafia. Now attempts to build a new dump have triggered violent protests from local residents.Two years ago, Naples went through a crisis with its garbage, where refuse built up in the streets because there was nowhere left to put it. At the time, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed to take on the case personally, but the garbage dumps and recycling plants are still hopelessly overstretched. Plans to build a new depot on the edge of the Vesuvio national park are forging ahead. The new plant could take three million tonnes of trash, making it the largest in Europe. But the residents of the region vehemently oppose the project.