NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy- The Marinai Housing complex, the family housing area attached to Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, has increased the recycling program of the community by 44% since July 2022 in order to meet recycling and environmental regulations implemented throughout Sicily, Italy.
In April 2006, the Italian government issued Italian Law Decree Number 152 that sets out the legislative framework for all matters concerning environmental protection with the Sicilian regional decree coming in to effect April 2010.
The Sigonella Housing Department, Pizzarotti (local maintenance contractor for Marinai Housing) and Public Works Department (PWD) Sigonella’s Asset Management and Real Estate Department came together to find a solution to comply with the local law for the Marinai. The Housing Community has approximately 1,500 U.S. military, U.S government employees, and NATO service members attached to NAS Sigonella. With their collective efforts, they decided to have 41 collection points throughout the Marinai to discard solid waste, recycle paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, plastic, organic waste, and yard waste.
“At the beginning we were all full of enthusiasm for this new project,” said Mr. Giuseppe Fiorenza, Realty Specialist/Lease Administrator, PWD Sigonella. “Even if we all knew that it was not going to be so easy. Because changing the habits of people is not easy, but after all, we succeed with having a high recycling percentage.”
While this initiative greatly increased recycling efforts, the team knew there was more they needed to do. The Lentini landfill receives trash from approximately 200 municipalities--Catania, Messina, Syracuse and surrounding towns. Due to the high amount of trash received and the persistent issue of trash collection, the landfill had no choice but to temporarily close to deal with the collection and separation issues. Collectively, all stakeholders came together once again and developed a plan that was instrumental in modification of the lease contract on April 20, 2022. This modification implemented a door-to-door collection of every unit. With the support of the Housing Department and Pizzarotti, NAS Sigonella conducted “town halls” along with publishing literature prior to the implantation of this large change affecting over 1,500 personnel.
“Pizzarotti every year performs an event called ‘Recycling Day’ explaining to adults and kids the benefits of having a better world for a better environment,” explains Fiorenza. “We all need to learn to use biological, biodegradable and recycled materials in order to protect our mother nature.”
After the implementation of this process, the recycling program of the Marinai increased from 34% to 78%, greatly reduced the environmental impact of the community while adhering to local nation laws, and increased partnering relations for the U.S and other NATO forces in the European theater of operation.
"This has been a very important initiative given the ongoing Lentini Landfill issues and will allow the U.S. Navy to comply with continued requests to reduce our total bulk refuse weights,” remarked Commander Mark J. Christensen, Public Works Officer, PWD Sigonella. “Additionally it demonstrates our desire to be good stewards of the environment whether at home or overseas. I'm very proud of our amazing team!"
| Date Taken: | 12.20.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2022 04:07 |
| Story ID: | 435499 |
| Location: | SIGONELLA, IT |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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