How to help the population make decisions for the common good

NIMBY syndrome, from the English acronym "not in my yard" represents the protest by a community towards those projects, of national interest, which provide for the installation in their territory of quarries, highways, refineries, waste-to-energy plants, landfills, settlements industrial areas or deposits of dangerous substances.

It is a transversal phenomenon throughout Europe, which arises spontaneously as a defense action towards a territory or towards the population itself, which sees, through the information in its possession, a potential danger in accepting the project.

The circular economy is often a victim of Nimby syndrome, especially when it comes to building a waste-to-energy plant or accepting a landfill or waste storage, and it is an obvious problem in areas where structures are needed to complete the circularity of products and production. like those mentioned.

With the plant systems available, the phenomenon of zero waste is a utopia and people must know that circularity can be achieved by integrating various forms of recycling that do not end with separate collection.

In some territories, especially in Southern Europe, the lack of state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plants, because they are opposed by the people, leads to a movement of waste towards areas where it can be processed (from south to northern Italy for example), with costs on the same citizens against and a high environmental impact.

It must be borne in mind that the syndrome also arises due to insufficient involvement of the population by the political institutions that decide the project, from the lack of trust that the base has towards their elected representatives who administer the territories on which the opera should be installed.

The possible corruption phenomenon, which affects the technical verification of the project from an environmental and social sustainability point of view, is also part of the possible distrust in local or national institutions.

It is necessary to invest above all in the culture of the circularity of waste, to help citizens better understand the proposals that could affect their territories and, on the part of those who manage the areas concerned politically, it is necessary to make available all information that allows people to understand that the national interest does not clash with possible lower health protections or with the distortion of local life habits.

According to data provided by the Nimby Forum, as of 2016 there were disputed projects involving renewable energy, such as biomass plants, composting and wind farms, for a total of 359 open positions.

It is easy to imagine how these oppositions are now amplified also by the network, through which the participants in these discussions do not always have a qualified technical preparation to support the pros and cons of the works, with the risk of an always possible exploitation.

Recent history, however, tells us that large projects on the circular economy, of national utility, must be able to be carried out in the interest of all, but that the population has the right to be involved, has the right to understand and has the right to express themselves for any changes. deemed necessary.

Democracy is also this.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.