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December 2, 2008 9:12:23 PM CST

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14 Stories

Under Italy's Mob, Toxic
Trash Heaps Growing

Intimidation rife as garbage threatens public health

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Aug 30, 08 3:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Heaps of garbage tower in southern Italy’s legal and illegal dumps, and may even be contributing to cancer and birth defects in the area—but the mafia’s grip on disposal makes it near impossible to fix the problem, the Los Angeles Times reports. “For years the waste has been accumulating, nothing has been done to clean it up, and the consequences are lethal,” says an “eco-mafia” prosecutor. More »

More about:  Italy • pollution • Mafia • garbage • landfill • intimidation • toxins

 Houston Too Ornery to Recycle

'Independent streak,' cheap landfills have reuse rate at 2.6%, worst among US cities

New York Times New York Times Jul 29, 08 1:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - While other Texas cities are working hard to separate their garbage, Houston still considers recycling to be sissy stuff, earning the oil town the worst recycling rate of 30 top US cities. Houston recycles just 2.6% of its trash, the New York Times reports, while San Francisco is at 69%, and New York 34%, by comparison. Environmental advocates are begging for reforms, but area landfills are so cheap there’s little enthusiasm for change. More »

More about:  Texas • Houston • recycling • garbage

 Italy Calls In Shrinks
 for Garbage Crisis 

Berlusconi dispatches psychologists as part of promise to clean up mess

Der Spiegel Der Spiegel Jul 3, 08 8:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a “final solution" to Naples' trash problem—and it includes psychologists, Der Spiegel reports. Naples, whose overflowing landfills have led to intermittently trash-choked streets for years, will soon be invaded by an army of volunteers, including a group of psychologists trained in counseling disaster survivors. Berlusconi has also pledged to clean up the garbage. More »

More about:  Italy • Silvio Berlusconi • garbage • Naples • landfill • psychologist

 Britons: New Trash 
 Laws Are Rubbish 

Controversial UK measures get tough on waste

New York Times New York Times Jun 27, 08 4:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - In the midst of a garbage overload, the UK is cracking down on trash with strict new rules, sparking a backlash among Britons, the New York Times reports. Many areas now pick up trash only biweekly, and accept only regulation amounts. Some reject recycling bins tainted with garbage. In response, some Britons are yelling at trash collectors, stealing neighbors’ bins—and burning their rubbish. More »

More about:  Great Britain • environment • recycling • garbage • trash

'Super' Mafia Witness Gunned Down in Naples

Slain informant was helping cops bust garbage gangs

Guardian (UK) Guardian (UK) Jun 3, 08 2:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - The boss of a garbage disposal firm with Mafia links who had turned informant was gunned down in a bar near Naples yesterday, the Guardian reports. The murdered man had been helping police target gangs that control waste disposal in the city, currently gripped by a garbage crisis. He had been due to testify this week against an accused gangster who's a member of Italy's ruling party. More »

More about:  Italy • Mafia • Silvio Berlusconi • organized crime • garbage • Naples • witness

 Trash Fires Blaze Across Naples 

Firefighters working overtime as angry residents burn excess garbage

AFP AFP May 19, 08 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - The prolonged garbage impasse in Naples has taken a new turn as angry residents began setting fire to thousands of tons of waste littering city streets. Firefighters were at work all night battling at least 90 burns across the city, AFP reports. “Every six to seven minutes, one of our emergency vehicles sets off with its sirens screaming,” said a local commander; new Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is set to unveil new measures to deal with the crisis Wednesday. More »

More about:  Italy • fire • garbage • trash • Naples

Naples' Trash Tops Berlusconi's To-Do List

Incoming Italian PM says he'll be in garbage-strewn city three days a week

BBC BBC Apr 15, 08 4:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi said today his first task as Italy's prime minister will be to clean up garbage-strewn Naples, the BBC reports. After a clear victory for his center-right coalition in this week's elections, the 71-year-old media tycoon promised to spend three days a week in the city and to "leave only when I'm sure I've found a definitive solution" to the trash clogging its streets. More »

More about:  Italy • Silvio Berlusconi • garbage • Naples • Northern League

 Prized Cheese in Italy at Risk 

Toxins found in mozzarella after years of illegal trash dumping

New York Times New York Times Mar 27, 08 7:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - More consumers are turning up their noses at Italy’s prized buffalo mozzarella, and not over its smell, the New York Times reports. Toxins have been found in samples of the delicacy, likely caused by illegal dumping of garbage around Naples. Sales are down 40%, and farmers and restaurateurs fear a panic despite that fact that best cheese region appears unaffected. More »

More about:  Italy • garbage • cuisine • Naples • imported food • contaminated food • mozzarella • dioxin

 Got Junk? Call These Guys 

Company turns trash into profit

NPR NPR Mar 26, 08 12:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - A shed full of roller skates, 400 wedding dresses, 18,000 sardine cans, a diffused bomb—1-800-GOT-JUNK? hauls away more than just trash in its custom-built dump trucks. The largest junk-hauling company in North America turned clutter into revenues of $150 million this year, says NPR, while professionalizing the industry and banishing the stereotypical image of a sloppy junk hauler in baggy pants. More »

More about:  innovation • garbage • trash • clutter

Sea of Plastic Dooms Oceans, Expert Says

Pacific pollution—as
big as Africa—is too deep and broad to fix

CNET CNET Mar 5, 08 4:16 PM CST
(Newser) - A noted oceanographer says the aquatic pollution in the Pacific Ocean is too significant to be cleaned up. “We are damned to a future of pollution by plastic,” Charles Moore said after showing that the amount of Pacific plastic has ballooned fivefold in the last 10 years. A garbage patch twice the size of Texas is old news, but Moore found a “highway” that makes the polluted area as large as Africa. More »

More about:  global warming • pollution • ocean • recycling • plastic • garbage • Pacific Ocean • green revolution

Plasma May Zap City's Garbage Crisis

New tech could burn off Vancouver's garbage and make electricity

Canada.com Feb 17, 08 6:48 PM CST
(Newser) - Vancouver may have a fix for its garbage overflow crisis: Burn the trash into a gas that makes electricity. A Canadian company called Plasco Energy Group has proposed a plant that zaps waste into ionized gas, or plasma; about a fifth of it would run the plant and the rest could be sold off. A few plasma plants by other companies have reportedly tanked, but the Vancouver Sun 's Harvey Enchin urges the city to try this one. More »

More about:  energy • garbage • Vancouver • waste • trash • landfill

Astronaut Takes Out the Trash, Into Space

Discarded equipment expected to burn up
in Earth's atmosphere

Reuters Reuters Jul 23, 07 4:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - A NASA astronaut hurled two large pieces of space junk—a 1,400-pound reservoir filled with ammonia and a 212-pound piece of video equipment—off the International Space Station and into the Earth's orbit today. NASA does not approve of space littering, Reuters reports, but the agency had no other option. More »

More about:  NASA • International Space Station • space • astronauts • space shuttle • ocean • garbage • atmosphere

Ten Worst Jobs in Science

The less glamorous side of research,
from toxic waste to whale feces

Popular Science Jul 4, 07 11:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hazmat diver: They swim in sewage, toxic spills and other undesirable liquid environments. Oceanographer: With the coral reefs dying, pollutants rising, and overfishing it's just one long stream of bad news. Elephant vasectomist: With a testicle a foot in diameter, it isn't exactly a walk in the wildlife preserve. Garbologist: These scientists take dumpster diving to a whole new level. Coursework carcass preparer: Someone has to get those fetal pigs ready for the classroom. More »

More about:  list • science • work • employment • garbage

Naples Reeks as Garbage Dumps, Landfills Close

Trash crisis in
tourist mecca heats up along with weather

New York Times New York Times May 31, 07 6:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mounds of smelly garbage are piling up in the streets of Naples, as a shortage of places to dump it has reached a crisis: the last landfill in Naples closed Saturday. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is pleading with politicians and citizens to save the the country's image, the Times reports. More »

More about:  Italy • garbage • trash • Naples • landfill • Giorgio Napolitano

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