The recently launched initiative of shipping waste from Rome to Amsterdam via rail keeps encountering criticism. This time, Swiss MP Bruno Storni pointed out that the new service does not benefit Switzerland but, on the contrary, removes capacity for passenger services.

Storni expressed his chagrin during an interview with Swiss public broadcaster Radio Television Suisse. According to Storni, the project of sending Roman waste to Amsterdam via the Rhine-Alpine Corridor is an absurd initiative. He pointed out that room for passenger trains on this corridor is vital. “We need to reduce, and not increase, rail freight traffic via this corridor”, Storni concluded.

Dutch politicians already voiced their concerns

Politicians in the Netherlands also underlined their disapproval of the initiative. Right-wing independent Dutch Senator Henk Otten pointed out that Dutch farmers had to stop activities due to nitrogen production being deemed too high. “Adding 900 tons of waste per week from other countries to burn here in The Netherlands is a very contra-productive step to take if we want to reduce our CO2 and Nitrogen output”, he told RailFreight.com. Moreover, Laura Bromet, a member of the leftist party GroenLinks and the Dutch House of Representatives, ironically commented on Twitter that “we meant more trains differently”.

Sending Roman waste to Amsterdam via rail

The plan of sending waste from Rome to Amsterdam was launched at the end of March by AMA, the company operating garbage collection in Rome, and the Amsterdam Waste Energy Company (AEB). The first train was dispatched on 1 April, with transportation being carried out by Mercitalia Rail. Italy will pay AEB 200 euros per ton of trash sent, for a total of 180,000 euros every week.

It is not yet clear how long the collaboration between Italy and the Netherlands will last. However, Rome will certainly not solve its waste disposal problem until at least 2026, when a new incinerator capable of handling 600,000 tons of waste every year will be up and running. The importance of the new incinerator was highlighted by Italian Senator Raffaella Paita. Paita said that shipping Roman waste to Amsterdam keeps offering a negative image of the Italian capital to the world and that, therefore, the new incinerator is vital to change this.

The Italian capital has been struggling with waste disposal for at least a couple of decades. The Malagrotta site, the main facility for waste disposal in Rome, reached saturation in 2003 and was then closed in 2013. Since then, the various councils ruling the city have struggled with finding a definite solution to this issue.

Also read:

• Dutch politicians against Italian waste arriving in Amsterdam by rail
• New Rome-Amsterdam rail service for the sake of waste management
• PSA Italy to launch Genoa-Stuttgart ‘Express’ service in May