Driving forces in national waste management strategies.

Over the years the development of society and industry, coupled with growing awareness of environmental issues, has led to the application of increasingly sophisticated technological methods for handling waste. Between the 1970’s and the 1990’s disposal technologies took on an air of self-sufficiency often forcing operators to take sides, in much the same way as occurs with sport fans. Those in favour of incineration were contrary to landfilling and recovery, whilst individuals supporting landfilling defamed the other methods, and so on. At times the echo of the irrational discussions which took place can still be heard today, with people continuing to reason in extreme terms, either in favour or contrary to a given system, without any reference to the specific context. I recently attended a meeting with the Governmental Committee for the Environment of the Valle d’Aosta Region, in Northern Italy. This region is located in a small mountainous territory, with very limited space available for siting of a landfill. During the meeting I was asked whether I was in favour of incineration. I replied that the question was incomplete. It was rather like being asked whether I was in favour of travelling by train. When I have to move, as a general rule I prefer to walk; if the distance to be travelled is slightly longer, living in a flat area, I might go by bicycle, otherwise I would travel by train. If, however, I need to reach a distant destination not served by public transport, then I would choose to travel by car. I know, the exhaust emissions contain GHG, VOC, etc., but I cannot avoid using it. Of course the above is only possible if I can count on economic resources sufficient to permit me to own a car, a bicycle or to pay for my train ticket. Otherwise, the sole resource available would be to go on foot or, worse, to use some dangerous, unreliable form of transport. Beyond metaphor, solid waste management today should meet numerous requirements stemming from an increased awareness and perception of environmental issues by the public and from scientific developments focusing on the increasing pressure worldwide of unavoidable ecological matters (limited resources, climate change, widespread pollution, demographic growth, depletion of non-renewable energy sources, etc.). The requirements include the following: