Livorno incinerator closure: community mobilisation wins

How Livorno permanently closed its local incinerator

In 2024, Zero Waste Italy helped mobilise the community of Livorno, a port city on the Tuscan coast, to secure the permanent closure of its local incinerator. The campaign combined technical advocacy: showing that alternatives existed: with community organising to build broad public and political pressure.

What happened

• ZWI supported local residents and civil society groups in building the case against continued incineration
• Community pressure alongside technical evidence persuaded decision-makers to close the facility permanently
• Livorno joins a growing list of Italian cities phasing out waste incineration in favour of source separation and reuse

Why it matters

The Livorno closure shows that communities do not have to accept incineration as the default. With the right information and organised residents, the economics and politics of waste can be shifted. ZWI's experience here is now a template for similar campaigns elsewhere in Italy.

What you can do

• If your city has a waste-to-energy facility under review, contact Zero Waste Italy for advocacy support and technical materials
• Attend public consultations on local waste management plans and raise the zero-waste alternative

Source & repost

Shared here so you can get inspired or find action already happening near you. Solarpunker does not own or organise it.

• National coordinator: Zero Waste Italy (ZWI)
• Report chapter: ZWE State of Zero Waste Municipalities, 5th edition