Report from the south of Europe 2024 – The Sicilian waste problem

The island of Sicily in the south of Italy is something special and a very valuable experience for any traveler, whether alone or with the family.

But I also want to go off the beaten tourist track with you and tell you about a problem that has really caught my eye.

It’s about the waste disposal problem in Sicily.

I know that this issue has been pending for several years and has also been communicated in the media. However, this topic has faded into the background somewhat and I would therefore like to share my personal view and experiences with you alongside the official reports.

My aim is not to criticize or condemn, but to give a pure and real account of the situation and my observations and experiences from conversations on the ground.

The waste problem in reality

To illustrate this problem, I would like to start by showing you two situations that happened exactly like this and exactly there.

The fright in the night

We had dinner in town in the evening and were on our way home.

You drive there at night in the dark, usually without street lighting, on winding country roads, some of which are kept narrow, from one bend to the next.

However, I have to say that in some regions away from the cities and tourist centers you can unfortunately no longer speak of roads, but of potholes.

But this is an issue that exists in many places, purely in terms of infrastructure. Southern Italy is not as rich as the north of the country, as you can clearly see.

You can see where the state is investing and where it is not.

Back to the situation.

So we drove through the darkness and talked normally. Then we turned a corner and I suddenly saw something lying on the road in front of me.

As there was no oncoming traffic, I swerved out of the way and braked abruptly.

We saw, or rather made sure, that it was a garbage bag that had been lying on the street.

Yes, a bag of garbage. We drove on very slowly and saw more bags.

We were really shocked, but you can find such garbage bags or wild garbage dumps everywhere along the road. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case or the challenge of a single municipality.

You only need to leave the towns, especially in the south of the island, to come across wild garbage dumps with all kinds of garbage on the country roads, sometimes at crossroads. I even found some when walking along country lanes away from the main roads.

Let’s just leave it at that and talk about the second situation.

The acceptance points

After asking around locally and with the locals, we were told where and how to dispose of our garbage.

As we were staying in an Airbnb, we took care of this ourselves.

So I packed up the separated garbage and took it to the garbage dump.

We had determined that waste can be delivered to certain public places within a certain time window every day.

The containers were also there at the time and place I had been told. But the sight of the surroundings was quite surprising.

I’m not normally fussy, but I hadn’t actually seen this before and I’ve traveled far enough to know that not everyone feels the same way.

But everyone here would probably have felt the same way.

There was a lot of garbage around the garbage cans all over the field and to the side of the road. Sometimes even on the road. From organic waste to glass and many other things.

I am a realist to think that a place where garbage containers are left unattended and without staff on site cannot be clean and pure.

But this example was frightening for me. So, to be on the safe side, I checked the road and my tires every time I took garbage to the garbage tip.

The last thing I wanted was broken glass or anything else in the tires of the rental car.

Observations and discussions

Now, of course, you can argue that this is tourist garbage.

Thrown away by people who don’t know the system or are overwhelmed by it.

I have also given this a lot of thought after talking to the locals.

That may be partly true, but this explanation alone cannot be the reason for me. Because even the locals or others who had settled there did not generally blame the tourists.

We were on the island completely out of season and saw very few other tourists during our stay.

And from a purely visual assessment, it wasn’t all old garbage lying around, but also a lot of fresh garbage, such as organic waste.

The fact is that we have seen that there are several houses of Italian domestic tourists throughout Sicily. In other words, people who are only here at certain times and otherwise live and work in other parts of the country.

These people are certainly familiar with the local waste system.

From my experience in other parts of Italy, I know for sure that the general system is not very different.

It is even similar to our system in Germany and Italy is a country with one of the highest recycling rates in Europe.

So where does the waste problem here in southern Europe come from?

My exchange with the locals revealed a variety of reasons that have probably exacerbated the whole situation to this extent.

Inadequate infrastructure and inefficient waste management

For years, many parts of Sicily did not have adequate disposal facilities or recycling programs.

The infrastructure for waste disposal is often outdated, and waste was frequently dumped in landfills that were not operated in an environmentally friendly manner.

This has led to an overload of landfills and more and more illegal dumping.

Socio-cultural factors

In contrast to many other parts of Europe, waste separation was not traditionally part of everyday culture in Sicily for a long time.

Recycling programs were introduced late in many municipalities and met with resistance, as it meant a changeover for many citizens that was associated with additional effort.

There were even entire movements that rejected the separation of waste as unnecessary. Strange when you think about it.

Are we talking about convenience here? Because the waste has to be separated anyway. Either by the consumer or by the system for a fee.

I also sensed a certain resignation among the locals, certainly against the backdrop of unemployment, a weak economy, the road situation and the situation with the refugees.

Influence of the mafia

According to my research, another aspect that exacerbated the waste problem was the influence of the mafia.

In the past, the mafia controlled and influenced parts of the waste disposal system and profited from illegal disposal methods, including in the sea.

This not only led to environmental problems, but also made it more difficult to introduce efficient and legally compliant waste systems.

Political instability and corruption

At the political level, there were repeated corruption scandals and mismanagement, which meant that funds for waste disposal projects in the administration were often not used efficiently.

Cooperation between local governments and private waste management companies was often ineffective or corrupt, further delaying the introduction of sustainable solutions.

Slow adaptation to environmental laws

Italy, including Sicily, has implemented EU directives on waste disposal in recent decades, but often with delays and not across the board.

As a result, many municipalities, especially in rural areas, were slow to adapt to new environmental regulations.

Sicilian initiatives

Fortunately, there are several initiatives that have taken on the waste problem. These are already active locally, as well as in neighboring Calabria and other areas of southern Italy.

I intend to present three important ones here, which are also active throughout Italy and serve different areas.

Legambiente

https://www.legambiente.it

Legambiente is one of the largest environmental organizations in Italy and also plays an important role in Sicily.

It regularly organizes waste collection campaigns, beach clean-ups and information campaigns to promote waste separation.

She is particularly committed to protecting the Sicilian coastline, where plastic waste and illegal waste disposal are a major problem.

The organization also promotes sustainable practices and works with communities to improve waste separation and recycling.

Zero Waste Sicily

https://zerowasteeurope.eu/member/zero-waste-italy/

This movement is part of the international zero-waste movement and aims to reduce waste production on the island.

They not only promote waste separation, but also the circular economy we are familiar with, in which waste products are recycled and resources are conserved.

Zero Waste Sicily is working to mobilize communities and citizens through workshops and training to reduce the amount of waste.

Plasticfree Onlus

https://www.plasticfreeonlus.it/en

This organization works nationwide, including in Sicily, and focuses on reducing plastic waste, especially single-use plastic.

They organize local clean-up campaigns and raise public awareness of the effects of plastic pollution through educational projects in schools and communities.

They promote conscious consumption and the use of alternatives to plastic.

Summary and conclusion of the report

The waste problem is definitely visible to everyone who visits or lives on the island.

It’s purely my personal opinion, but I kept thinking about what I saw:

What a pity. Such a rich nature and the way we humans treat it in general.

There are many reasons for this and all of them together have meant that people and politicians have been very slow to change their mindsets.

In recent years, awareness of the waste problem has increased and there are greater efforts to recycle and dispose of waste properly, but it remains a challenge that I believe will require a lot of effort and support.

After all, the problem has spread over large areas.

Cooperation between local initiatives and the population also plays a decisive role in solving the waste problem in the long term, which definitely needs to happen.

Of course, as a German and a non-resident, I am not authorized to judge. I expressly do not do that either.

But as a European and a lover of nature and culture, it is important to me that the people of Sicily and the authorities can solve this waste problem together. If only with a view to the future.

Perhaps my report will make a small contribution to this.

Thank you for your attention.