Abstract
“Sustainable development” can be defined as the basic principle of environmental rights (Fracchia 2010). Appearing for the first time in 1987 in the report “Our Common Future”, it is defined as development that “…meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Since this definition is based on needs, which are naturally changeable and destined to expand throughout space and time, sustainability, in fact, does not only apply to the environmental/ecological level but also to the economic and social levels. This aspect has certainly contributed to moving from an idea of sustainability as “need for” to one of “right to” (Gilli 2010).
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Notes
- 1.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- 2.
There is a wide range of literature related to sustainability indicators, including P. Tenuta, Indici e modelli di sostenibilità, Franco Angeli, (2009); F. Chelli, Indicatori di sviluppo sostenibile e qualità della vita, available at http://docs.dises.univpm.it/web/quaderni/pdf/195.pdf; S. Bell, S. Morse, Sustainability indicators. Measuring the immeasurable, London, Earthscan, (2008).
- 3.
In 1994, the European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns marked the signing of the “Charter of European Sustainable Cities and Towns Towards Sustainability”, better known as the Aalborg Charter, which recognized the fundamental role of the urban environment on the process of change in lifestyle, production, and consumption.
- 4.
The European Common Indicators (ECI) are available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/urban/common_indicators.htm. Studies related to the indicators of urban sustainability include M. L. M. Graymore, N. G. Sipe, R. E. Rickson, Regional sustainability: how useful are current tools of sustainability assessment at the regionale scale, in Ecological Economics, 2008; E. M. Tacchi, Gli indicatori socio-ambientali, in A. Augustoni, P. Giuntarelli, R. Veraldi, Sociologia dello spazio, dell’ambiente e del territorio, Franco Angeli, 2007.
- 5.
For characteristics of the indicators of urban sustainability, see M. Lehtonen, Mainstreaming sustainable development in OECD through indicators and peer reviews, in Sustainable Development, 2008, 16, 241–250.
- 6.
This does not by any means exclude the fact that some cities have similar characteristics and that the indicators necessary to develop a model of urban sustainability are identical or at least largely similar.
- 7.
There is ample literature in this respect, including, among others, P. Giampietro, Quando un residuo produttivo va qualificato “sottoprodotto” (e non “rifiuto”) secondo l’art. 5, della Direttiva 2008/98/CE, available at www.lexambiente.it; D. Röttgen, La nozione di rifiuto e di sottoprodotto, in Commento alla direttiva 2008/98/CE sui rifiuti, IPSOA, Milan, 2011.
- 8.
The relationship between health and waste has been recognized by legislators for some time. Already in 1934 the Royal Decree 27 July 1934 No. 1625, in which Art. 217 gave mayors the responsibility of indicating the necessary measures to prevent, or at least limit, damage to public health caused by vapour, gas, fumes, draining water, and solid and liquid waste from manufacturing or factories. There are also endless studies that have dealt with the health/waste relationship. These include, for example, a 2004 publication by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità entitled Valutazione del rischio sanitario e ambientale nello smaltimento di rifiuti urbani e pericolosi, available at www.iss.it.
- 9.
For an exhaustive list of the data collected, see Settimo rapporto regionale annuale sui Rifiuti urbani, available at www.regione.marche.it.
- 10.
This refers to Art. 4 of European Directive 2008/98 and to Art. 179 of D. Lgs. 152 of 2006, as replaced by Art. 4 of D. Lgs. 205/2010. These standards refer to a hierarchical scale containing the best environmental options in matters of waste production and management. Prevention, intended as both a decrease in the amount produced and its dangerousness, is situated at the top, followed by preparation for reuse, recycling, and other types of recovery. Disposal is situated at the bottom. Related references include A. Muratori, Gerarchia dei rifiuti: le diverse “anime” della prevenzione e la “società del riciclaggio”, in Commento alla direttiva 2008/98/CE sui rifiuti, IPSOA, Milan, 2011; M. L. Nepi, Dalla prevenzione all’ “end-of-waste”, le nuove strategie europee per la riduzione e la valorizzazione dei rifiuti, in Rifiuti Bollettino di informazione normativa, n. 180/181 (01-02/11); P. Dell’Anno, Diritto dell’ambiente, CEDAM, 2011.
- 11.
Waste Directive 2008/98/EC; Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC; Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 1994/62/EC
- 12.
More specifically, in 2015, 774,036 tons of waste were produced with a per-capita average of 499 kg, compared to a per-capita average of 509 kg in 2014.
- 13.
The practice of “kilometre zero”, or purchasing local products, comes to mind. This results in a reduction of packaging used to avoid the negative consequences associated with transporting the merchandise from the production site to the point of sale. It has also resulted in the spread of shops selling products in bulk.
- 14.
In 2015, the population of the Province of Ancona was nearly 480,000, compared to Pesaro, which is about 363,000, affecting overall production by 26%.
- 15.
The two regional reports on waste from 2014 to 2015 do not contain data related to the effect of tourism on the overall and per-capita production of waste registered in Ancona. A town is considered “touristic” when the indicator “equivalent tourist presence/residents” is greater than 10% and is therefore not applicable to Ancona.
- 16.
This data is taken from the 2015 regional report on waste, published in 2016 at www.regione.marche.it. A comparison with the corresponding data provided in the previous year’s report shows a notable reduction in per-capita production, corresponding to 41 kg/person.
- 17.
Of interest in this respect is the “beach litter” investigation made by Legambiente, which considered 54 beaches: 29 in Italy and 25 throughout the rest of the Mediterranean. In particular, more than 500 pieces of synthetic foam (insulating material used in construction) were found on the Palombina beach in the city of Ancona, equal to 63% of the total marine debris. The results can be accessed at www.legambiente.it.
- 18.
The positive nature of the data, which is clear, is even more evident when compared with data from other coastal communities in the same region: in less than 15 km of beach in the city of Senigallia, the total amount of marine debris in 2015 reaches 18,474,460 kg, equivalent to a per-capita average of 410 kg. On the Gabicce Mare beach, a little longer than 4 km, the total amount of waste was 2,369,225 kg, for an average of 408 kg/inhabitant.
- 19.
From 2001 to 2007, annual increases in the percentage of recycled waste were on average less than 3%, followed by a consistent increase of more than 6% from 2008 to 2012, followed by a return to the 3–4% level in 2012–2014. The last data available, from 2015, show an increase from the previous year of only 0.84%, for an overall value of 64.21%. The objective fixed for 2016 was to recycle at least 65% of waste. For more information, see the new Waste Plan for the Marche Region ((DAAL no. 128 of 4 April 2015).
- 20.
It should be noted that the Province of Macerata has already notably exceeded the objective fixed for 2020 to recycle 70% of its waste, in that it already reached 74% in 2015.
- 21.
Data available online at www.atarifiuti.an.it and www.regione.marche.it
- 22.
A new citizen awareness campaign was launched in 2016 by the city administration entitled “Oggi esco solo io. Guida alla raccolta differenziata”, which aims to help citizens understand the importance of urban décor and the ethical, and not just economic, value of urban spaces and objects.
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Fenni, B. (2018). Clean and Healthy – Waste Collection and Waste Management. In: Quality of Life in Urban Landscapes. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65581-9_17
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