Campania is also a leader in the illegal waste cycle with 1.859, exactly 20% of the national total; the number of reports is also enormous, 1.829, arrests, 43 and seizures, 631.
Illegal Shopper Emergency: Napoli In the last year, 100 kilograms of illegal bags have been found every three days, for a total of 120 quintals.
In Campania le eco-mafia they are increasingly stepping on the accelerator and doing golden business. This is demonstrated by the increase in environmental crimes which in 2023 rose to 4.952, recording +23% compared to 2022, with an average of 13,5 crimes per day, data which confirm Campania as the national leader.
The province of Naples is in the black with 1.494 crimes, followed by Avellino (in strong growth with 1.203 crimes, equal to +72,9%). The new Legambiente report “Ecomafia 2024.
The stories and numbers of environmental crime in Italy”, 30 years after its first publication, and whose data were presented today in Rome.
Campania confirms its position as the black sheep at the national level in all cycles of the ecomafia, from waste to illegal cement.
Our region confirms its first place in terms of the number of crimes against the environment (4.952, equal to 14% of the national total), with an increase in the number of people reported (4.643), people arrested (49), and seizures carried out (1.241).
The province of Naples leads the national ranking with 1.494 crimes, followed by the province of Avellino (1.203), which from seventh place moves up to the second step of the podium.
Fifth is the Province of Salerno with 815 crimes. In recent years, the cake has been shared, together with colluding entrepreneurs, officials and public administrators, by about 80 clans active in all the supply chains analyzed by Legambiente: from the cement cycle to that of waste, from animal trafficking to the exploitation of renewable energy and the distortion of the circular economy.
“The numbers and stories collected in the report – says Mariateresa Imparato, president of Legambiente Campania – confirm the important work carried out by law enforcement, Port Authorities, control bodies and the judiciary. And they should prompt coherent and effective responses from those with political and institutional responsibilities.
The fight against eco-mafia passes by putting in place a plan of transversal policies against eco-criminals, from industrial policies to employment policies, from socio-environmental policies to cultural ones. We must re-establish environmental justice in Italy and in Campania.”
The application of law 68/2015 on environmental crimes continues, which in 2023 exceeded the 600 quota. Like every year, the crime of environmental pollution (art. 452-bis cp) was the most contested, 111 times.
Campania confirms itself as the region with the highest number of applications of law 68, equal to 99 with 118 people reported, 12 arrests and 40 seizures for a total value exceeding 7 million euros.
The wounds to be healed
Campania is always at the top of the national waste cycle rankings for the number of crimes, 1.859, exactly 20% of the national total; the number of reports is also enormous, 1.829, arrests, 43 and seizures, 631. At the provincial level this year Avellino with 763 crimes snatches the scepter from Naples (475 criminal offences), followed by Rome (274), Caserta (224).
And in Campania there is a real emergency of illegal shoppers. One figure above all: in Naples alone in the last year 100 kilograms of illegal bags have been found every three days, for a total of 120 quintals. But if you go back in time, the numbers rise dramatically.
Since 2017, the Environmental Protection Unit of the Municipal Police of the Campania capital has conducted 76 operations, seizing approximately 8,6 million illegal shopping bags, for a total of 170 tons of material, and imposing 500 thousand euros in fines.
Investigations by prosecutors are confirming that a seemingly minor business, such as the racket of illegal plastic bags, also involves organized crime, attracted by the possibility of increasing their earnings by taking negligible risks.
Campania is still the region firmly at the top of the list of illegal concrete, with almost 15% of the crimes contested at a national level, and is also first overall for the number of people reported, over 2.000, and seizures carried out, 370.
The podium is all Campania with Naples, Avellino and Salerno leading the ranking at provincial level. In the Province of Naples there are 452 crimes in the cement cycle with 497 people reported and 223 seizures, in the Province of Avellino there are 349 crimes, 263 people reported and 32 seizures.
Salerno follows with 296 crimes, 458 people reported and 82 seizures. The “negative” record for the number of ordinances issued in relation to the population belongs to Campania, where, from 2004 to 2022, one case for illegal building was opened for every 236,6 inhabitants.
The most virtuous provinces are Benevento with 32% of the demolitions based on the ordinances issued in the reference period (data that does not include the capital city which is at zero) and Avellino, with 30,4% (in this case, the capital city has a significant impact thanks to 39,4% of the ordinances executed). Further behind are the provinces of Salerno with 14,1% and Caserta with 13%.
The environmental association is presenting fifteen proposals to the Executive today to bring the regulatory framework closer to the principles enshrined in the Constitution. Of these, six are the pillars on which to work as a priority:
1) Implement as soon as possible the new European directive on the criminal protection of the environment, approved by the European Parliament on 27 February 2024, which introduces new types of crime compared to those already provided for by our Criminal Code and provides for the adoption of national strategies against environmental crime;
2) Introduce crimes against agro-mafias into the Penal Code;
3) Introduce crimes against animals into the penal code;
4) Restore to the prefects full powers to demolish buildings that the Municipalities have not demolished, starting from the last building amnesty;
5) Increase sanctions against crimes in the waste cycle;
6) Complete the approval of the implementing decrees of the National Environmental Protection System and strengthen the staff of the Regional Agencies, to ensure adequate controls on the PNRR and the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics.
Article published on 11 July 2024 - 15:30
