Rome Has a Garbage Problem
And I have some thoughts about it.
One of the most astonishing discoveries tourists make when visiting Rome is the mountains of stinking trash that are allowed to pile up on city streets. Dumpsters overflow with trash bags, and more bags are allowed to accumulate next to them. In the summer months, their stench is especially rancid. Even when emptied, the Dumpsters are never cleaned or sanitized, making the odor even more overwhelming. Rats frolic amongst the waste, as do cinghiale, feral pigs, which now boldly scour Roman streets in search of food.
Romans complain, but it’s not just a waste management problem. It’s a people problem. Some Romans throw their trash out of car windows or while walking, and to be fair, trash bins are few and far between here. But there doesn’t seem to be the same “early programming” of Italians about the proper disposal of trash, no Public Service Announcements advising them on the perils of littering. In America, I cut my teeth on these types of PSAs.
Some of you may remember this one in particular:
This ad may seem overstated and hokey now, but at the time, it made an enormous impact on the consciousness of Americans and continued to play for years after its debut. Even now, I’d sooner rob a bank than litter. That’s how effectively this message was drilled into me. I truly believe Italy needs a PSA campaign on the evils of littering, just like we did.
But that still leaves an acute garbage problem in Rome. Some have called it eco-terrorism, and perhaps it is. Mafia families were heavily involved in waste management in the United States; it stands to reason they might be here.
And the problem isn’t exclusive to Rome. As you travel up the Cassia Bis and take the exit toward Cesano, a shocking amount of trash is piled up along the roadway: mattresses, busted appliances, overflowing trash bags, broken glass. Seeing it brings a lump to your throat. It’s hard to fathom this kind of pathological disregard for the environment.
The usual reason given for Rome’s ongoing garbage emergency is the closure of its biggest landfill, Malagrotta, in 2013. According to EU regulations, the landfill was illegal and biohazardous. Unfortunately, no alternatives have been found, and it doesn’t appear to be high on the list of priorities for the Italian legislature.
The other problem is recycling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge proponent of recycling. But the way it’s done in Italy is far from ideal. First, rumors abound that despite all the trouble and inconvenience we go through to be in compliance here, recycling is secretly disposed of like regular trash. Second, householders are forced to keep five separate bins in relatively small kitchens: Paper, plastic, organic (leftover food), glass, and metal. Who has room for that?
To make matters worse, each comune posts an online schedule of trash pickup. Some have the presence of mind to provide recycling Dumpsters you can bring your trash to, but many don’t, which leaves you at the mercy of public holidays, missed deadlines, and vermin. Bags of rotting food can sit in your kitchen for a full week in summer; longer, if you don’t get it outside in time for pickup.
Almost 20% of Rome’s garbage was incinerated until populist Five Star Movement’s Virginia Raggi took over as mayor. She was voted out recently, in large part because of her mishandling of this issue. The Five Star Movement rejected incineration, choosing instead to separate waste and recycle it, but with little success. The mountains of garbage grew ever larger under her stewardship.
Responsibility for the trash is shared among several organizations, which may be part of the problem. Italy ought not to rule by committee. It never turns out well. It also triggers a uniquely Italian default setting, which is “Pass the buck,” a variation on the all-too-familiar, “It’s not my job.” None of that is going to help the situation.
Italy deserves better.
Have you visited Italy and noticed the trash problem? I’d love to hear what your thoughts are. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
Yikes. Being cursed with a pathological fear of rats (I firmly believe each of us gets one irrational fear), this makes me want to skip Rome. Of course, it's not as if I haven't done my time in Third World countries with garbage problems of their own. In Kosovo, medical clinics in Pristina tended to dump their medical waste either on the street or in open containers on the street. Rats were endemic; I just was fortunate enough to not be around when they were. Ick....
I started to type, "I've never been to Italy" (which is true), but then I got distracted when my mind flashed to the Three Dog Night song, "Never Been to Spain." Living inside my head is like being stuck in a small room with someone who has some kind of weird, musical Tourette syndrome.
Anyway, I really just wanted to mention the "Weeping American" PSA. But even before that, the only thing my parents were more adamant about in the car than always buckling our seatbelts (dad had them added after market, because they were never standard back then), was NEVER throwing trash from the car.
I had no idea there was such a garbage problem in Italy. My own European travels (all of which are now long ago, and some of which are REALLY long ago) never took me down into the peninsula, and certainly never encountered anything even remotely as horrifying.