In Parma we don’t play with rubbish. The red bins on the streets of the city in Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy, set the tone: “And now we will leave the domestic areas within and into the cestini. » Translation : “It is forbidden to leave household waste in and around the containers.” The call to order is accompanied by a warning: “This inappropriate behavior will be punished.” And the penalties can be very high: fines of up to 10,000 euros and criminal prosecution for hazardous waste.
Ten video surveillance cameras installed in the city track citizens “inappropriate behavior”. Seven are exposed to everyone’s view, hanging from lampposts, as educational radars, to raise awareness among the neighbours (almost 200,000); Three are hidden in what look like electrical cabinets to avoid the surveillance of the most twisted minds. The images are projected by a specialised company. In case of suspicion of infringement, they are transmitted to the “investigative agents” of iren, the public company to which the municipality of Parma has entrusted the management of its waste.
The team, made up of seven people, is on the trail of a “serial polluter”: in one month, a retired doctor left 27 household waste items in his car. His license plate was identified on the videos. The case is in the hands of the police and the pensioner is under threat of flagrant crime.
Around 4,000 checks a year
Things are not always so simple to figure out. “Trash Detectives”As they like to call themselves, Sara Mazzola and Nicola Nuzzi, both in their thirties, are patrolling the cobbled streets of the old town with fluorescent yellow vests on their backs. A rubbish bag lies on the pavement at the foot of a building, just a few metres from a video surveillance camera. Nicola Nuzzi puts on a first pair of latex gloves, then a second, thicker pair, cuts the bag with a box cutter and then removes the rubbish one by one: cigarette butts and packaging from the fast food giant and leader in online sales.
Pineapple and watermelon tattooed on her biceps, Sara Mazzola photographs with her fuchsia smartphone what could serve as“clues” to track down the offender. To avoid being identified, the latter removed the label with his name on the Amazon box and used a lighter to make the barcode unreadable. “Very intelligent”comments Nicola Nuzzi.
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