By Erika Baldin (Italian) on the controversial expansion of a waste incinerator in Venice during Covid-19 pandemic 

The petitioner expresses concern about the imminent approval by the regional authorities of a project aiming at expanding a waste management plant located in Fusina (Venice). The extension of this waste management plant would increase the production capacity for the processing of residual urban waste aimed at the production of secondary solid fuel, which would grow from the current 258,500 t/ year to 450,000 t/ year. In her opinion, the current and future production of residual urban waste in the region does not justify the need for a plant of these proportions, taking also into account that the urban waste generation significantly decreased as a result of the COVID-19 emergency measures, which are restricting and will continue to restrict many economic activities over the coming months. In addition, the petitioner claims that the implementation of such project would be in breach of Articles 4 and 13 of the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC. According to the petitioner, the current restrictions on citizens’ freedoms of assembly and demonstration prevent citizens and environmental associations from taking any public initiative against this project. For these reasons, citizens and associations have asked for the authorization procedure to be suspended for at least one year.