Call to 100 mayors against diaper recycling facility

In Lucca, Italy, the approval of the industrial plan by the company Retiambiente, which aims to recycle baby diapers, adult diapers, and textile waste, is on the agenda. Liano Picchi, coordinator of the environmental committees, reiterated the warning letter sent in March to the 100 mayors involved in the project, once again expressing what will happen before the plan is voted on. The Municipality of Porcari has already expressed its hesitation against this massive facility and taken a stance by saying "no". Environmental activist Picchi has resent the 100 emails to ensure that the mayors are fully aware of what they are voting for. This initiative serves as a precaution to prevent anyone from saying "I didn't know."

According to Picchi, the most costly part of the plan brings a massive financial burden required for the construction and operation of the recycling facility. In addition to millions of euros being spent initially for the construction of the facility, a massive annual management and operating cost of 3 million euros will be added to the budget. The direct impact of all these costs is that it will lead to serious tariffs and expectation of price hikes that will be reflected in citizens' bills in the coming years. Since even those living far away cannot escape this economic devastation, the situation has ceased to be a regional issue and has turned into a crisis affecting a broad segment of society. It is claimed that these unnecessary expenses, which will come out of the pockets of the Italian people, lack a real economic analysis.

Regarding the issue, by recalling the example of Contarina, which previously built a similar facility in Italy, it was emphasized that the project has a high probability of resulting in failure. It was stated that the facility in question had to close years ago due to the inability to sell its products and high management costs, and during this process, the costs skyrocketed from 15 million to 20 million 847 thousand euros. The burden of this failed investment has already been placed on the shoulders of the local people, exceeding 10 million euros. For this reason, it is believed that the new facility planned to be built in the Salanetti region also risks sharing the same fate. The lack of buyers for the recovered materials in the recycling sector is one of the main factors causing such projects to economically collapse.

The technical details of the plan also harbor serious concerns, and even the physical infrastructure of the project has begun to be questioned. It was announced that the existing purchased landfill must be completely demolished and even the solar panels installed on it must be removed, which means an additional expense item. Furthermore, the fact that the area where the facility is planned to be built is located in the P3 region and is frequently subjected to flood disasters poses a major threat in terms of safety. The inability to discharge the wastewater from the process into the local sewage system means that hundreds of tankers will be needed to transport these chemical liquids to remote treatment plants. This logistical problem will both increase the risk of environmental pollution and exponentially raise operational costs.

Marc Simon, founder of Zero Waste Europe, also clearly argues that diaper recycling is not economically viable under current technological and market conditions. The collection and processing of baby diapers is an extremely expensive process, and the recycling revenues obtained can never cover these massive costs. The fact that not even a guaranteed buyer or a concrete market has been identified for the sale of the recovered material bases the project entirely on a speculative dream. Environmental organizations and the local people are inviting all mayors to vote against this plan in order to prevent the damages this massive facility will cause to nature and the economy. Consequently, this critical vote in Lucca will be a turning point for the region's future environmental policies and economic prosperity.