Over 100 leading waste experts and activists from 52 countries:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus. D.R. Congo, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Panama, Romania, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), USA, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
have signed a letter addressed to the Citizens of Rome (See names and comments of signatories).
The letter warns Rome’s citizens and decision-makers of the impending economic andenvironmental disaster that would befall Rome should the mayor sign a 33 year “put or pay” agreement needed to finance a proposed 600,000 ton per year municipal waste incinerator. Many of these experts have added personal statements explaining their opposition to incineration in general and the Rome incinerator in particular.
We appeal to the citizens of Rome to stop Mayor Roberto Gualtieri’s project to build ahugely expensive, unsafe and unsustainable incinerator to burn Rome’s municipal waste. In the 21st century, we should be shutting down old incinerators, not building new ones. This matter is extremely urgent. The Rome authorities are planning to sign a disastrous “put or pay” agreement committing taxpayers to pay more than 200 Euros per ton for the 600,000 tons it will burn each year for the next 33 years! Note the 200 Euros per ton fee includes the penalty Rome will have to pay Europe for CO 2 emissions from the incinerator, in addition to estimated capital and operating costs. “Put or pay” means you, the taxpayers of Rome, will have to pay that fee, whether or not you deliver 600,000 tons of waste per year. This is an economic trap from which you will not be able to escape. Such agreements have made it impossible for US cities to build trash incinerators. Those that have done so have found themselves importing waste, even hazardous waste, to offset the enormous cost involved. And for what? This is neither a safe nor sustainable solution for Rome’s waste. Incineration is in conflict with the urgent need to move from a Linear to a Circular economy. Zero Waste Italy has been pioneering this effort worldwide. Two thousand Italian communities have reduced their waste by over 80% and some by over 90%. Rome should be supporting these efforts, not threatening them! About 50% of Rome’s waste is biodegradable, and Milan has shown that such waste can be safely and efficiently collected for biological treatment for a fraction of the cost of incineration. Incineration poses a public health threat because it emits dioxins and other chlorinated, brominated and fluorinated by-products, which are extremely toxic and highly persistent in both the human body and the environment. Moreover, these toxics, as well as heavy metals like lead, are concentrated on the surface of trillions of minute particles called nanoparticles (less than one micron in diameter). Although these nanoparticles are unregulated and these nanoparticles are unregulated and difficult to capture, they penetrate the lung membrane and reach every tissue in the body. These dangers have been largely hidden from Rome’s citizens, because the incinerator is not being planned for the centre of Rome, but over 20 km away in Albano. The citizens of Albano do not want this incinerator, but those behind this project consider them expendable. This is a shameful environmental injustice. To justify the incinerator, the mayor has cited the fact that next year Rome will be playing host to millions of Christian pilgrims, who are expected to generate a further 150,000 tons of waste per year. But the incinerator will not be built in time for them. Nevertheless, we do not believe these pilgrims would want to be used as an excuse for such a shameful project. Hopefully, they will remind Rome that “God Recycles and the Devil Burns!” Finally, we believe that this project will deprive your children of the hope of living in a city with a sustainable future. No matter what problems you are facing, they will become far worse if you deprive your children of hope. Please do not let your mayor approve this incinerator. Please do not tarnish the image of your beautiful and historic city.
