Naples – "Acerra will not be home to new waste treatment plants." With these words, Mayor Tito d'Errico announced the definitive exclusion of waste storage, recovery, and disposal facilities from the tender for the land assigned by the ASI Consortium – Acerra Agglomerate. This decision, the local administration calls a historic step in protecting the land and the health of its citizens.
"The tender," explains d'Errico, "clearly and definitively excludes any productive activity with a significant or potentially harmful environmental impact. The challenges facing Acerra and Campania require administrative responsibility and collaborative efforts between institutions and citizens.
I thank Raffaele Lettieri for leading this environmental protection campaign, in line with the institutional framework that extends from Acerra to the Campania Region. Acerra is not and will not be a land of waste, but of opportunity, growth, and a future.
Lettieri: "A historic result."
Raffaele Lettieri, president of the Acerra City Council and member of the ASI Consortium's board of directors, is also pleased, calling the decision "a historic achievement."
"True territorial protection," he emphasizes, "is achieved when land is assigned, establishing clear rules from the outset. This achievement is the result of the constant presence within the Consortium of those who work with determination to ensure sustainable development."
The regulatory framework
The exclusion of new plants from the tender is based on the Regulations for the Establishment of Business Initiatives of the ASI Consortium of Naples and Criterion V-16 of the Regional Plan for the Management of Special Waste (updated 2022). That document specifically identified the Acerra area as unsuitable for the siting of new plants, following years of controversy and tension over the environmental burden already borne by the city, which hosts one of Italy's largest waste-to-energy plants.
A city that is a symbol of the environmental battle
Acerra, which has always been the epicentre of controversies linked to the management of waste Campania is therefore entering a new phase: from the season of street protests against landfills and incinerators to institutional action aimed at protecting the area from further high-impact developments.
The administration's message is clear: the city's future no longer depends on waste management but on sustainable development projects capable of attracting investment without compromising health and the environment.
It's important that Acerra no longer have waste disposal facilities, but there are doubts about how this will be achieved. We hope the administration manages the situation well and creates real opportunities for its residents.