Incinerator Threatens Health and Credibility of Food Industry in Parma

< DEUTSCH > < FRENCH > < ITALIAN > < SPANISH >

Parma is known all over the world for its Parmesan Cheese, Parma ham, wine and pasta but the local authorities are threatening to build an incinerator a stone's throw from the city centre. This will not only jeopardise recycling, composting and the health of the citizens, but also the credibility and safety of Parma's food industry, the main pillar of the local economy.

Please put pressure on the administrators and food producers so that they demand the authorities stop this project and go for a sustainable solution.

NOTE: Sending the message may take time, please avoid pressing the SUBMIT button more than once. Thank you.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you both as a citizen and as a consumer to express my concern over the plans to build an incinerator on the outskirts of Parma.

Not only will it have a negative impact on the health of local people, but also on the outstanding foods and wines produced in the Parma area.  The incinerator will inevitably cause a great deal of air pollution and actually worsen the environmental conditions of the Po Valley, which are already at risk.

As with all incinerators, the emissions will include dioxins, furans, nanoparticles, heavy metals and 200 other toxic compounds.  Many studies have been conducted into the effects incinerators have on health. The Order of French Doctors has called for a ban on the construction of new incinerators because of the pollutants they emit, and in Italy doctors have written to local authorities asking them not to grant permits for the construction of new incinerators.

Environmental protection bodies have declared that there is no doubt that people living near incinerators run a far greater risk of developing serious illnesses.  We have reached a point where we need to decide how we are to manage our waste.

There are alternatives to incineration which various towns and cities worldwide have adopted, abandoning projects like Parma’s project, which are considered outdated and damaging for the environment.  These recycling centres are equipped with extrusion plants which cost far less than incinerators like the one planned for Parma. Whilst the former cost around 10 million Euro, the latter run to some 180 million Euro! Not only that, extrusion technology actually generates profits.

All around Italy, local authorities have ditched plans to build incinerators and have committed themselves to a policy of recycling, reusing and treating waste without generating pollutants, without combustion, chimney stacks and dioxins.

An incinerator in Parma will inevitably have a negative effect on the quality of your outstanding products.  Volatile ashes will spread tons of pollutants in a radius dozens of kilometres from the incinerator. These ashes are so fine (under 10 microns) that they will enter every production process and therefore every product made throughout the Parma area.  Brescia has an incinerator; the dioxin content of milk products made in the area is proof that this will happen.

As a consumer I will feel obliged to avoid buying any foods made in the Parma area and will instead purchase other healthier products.   I kindly ask that you inform yourselves of this vitally important issue (not least to safeguard the prosperity and future of your own company). Please consider placing pressure on your local authorities to ensure they realise that people everywhere, not just in Italy, are very much against this project.

Kind regards,