28 municipalities in northwest Sardinia are fighting against the Region . The dispute concerns the Tossilo waste-to-energy plant , where, as announced in a memo received two days ago from the director of the Regional Department's Atmospheric and Land Protection Department, unsorted waste will be disposed of starting April 20.

The municipalities are opposing this decision, and have submitted three requests to the regional councilor for environmental protection, Rosanna Laconi: "postpone the start of waste disposal at Tossilo until the agreement containing clauses protecting the delivering municipalities has been signed; modify regional planning in agreement with Northern Sardinia and assess the socioeconomic impact on the region; and clarify the distribution of waste flows from the entire regional area to be sent to Tossilo, which currently appears to be causing serious and unfair damage to the Northern Sardinia region."

The strong position was signed by the mayors of Sassari, Alghero, Castelsardo, Porto Torres, Sennori, Sorso, Stintino, and Valledoria, the latter in association with the municipalities of Viddalba and Sedini, and by the presidents of the Union of Municipalities of Coros and the Union of Municipalities of Anglona and the Lower Coghinas Valley.

"The regional government," the mayors complain, "shows no effort or willingness to incorporate our concerns in the best interests of the region."

According to the mayors , "the April 20 start date cannot be met for technical and administrative reasons related to the need to formalize the relationship between the municipalities and Tossilo Spa and ensure the necessary spending commitments are made to it, after having released the funds already allocated to the Municipality of Sassari for waste disposal at Scala Erre, now rescheduled." They also emphasized: "The start of waste disposal partly at Tossilo and partly at Scala Erre requires planning and organization of transportation to one or the other facility by the entities managing waste collection and disposal for each municipality."

A meeting on the issue took place in Cagliari last Tuesday between a delegation composed of the mayor of Sassari, Giuseppe Mascia; the deputy mayor, Pierluigi Salis, who holds the responsibility for Ecological Transition, Land Protection and Urban Decor; Gianni Pisoni, director of the relevant sector; Regional Councilor Rosanna Laconi; Chief of Staff, Cesare Moriconi; General Director, Matteo Muntoni; and Director of the TAT Service, Salvatore Pinna.

"The transfer of a portion of unsorted waste to Tossilo," Mascia explained, " results in a significant increase in disposal costs for taxpayers in the Sassari area, compared to a reduction in costs for taxpayers in other regions." According to the mayor, "this increase is caused by the price differences between the various waste disposal plants in the region and the one applied to Tossilo." The capital city, acting on a mandate from all the other municipalities, emphasized the price increases, which "unfairly impact the different areas and the waste management costs, which inevitably fall on the Tari (waste tax) paid by citizens." "The transfer of a portion of the unsorted waste to Tossilo," Mascia, Salis, and Pisoni wrote, " alters the economic balance of the new management contract for the Scala Erre complex, which is based on a different waste flow schedule. This necessitates a reorganization of the landfill's economic and financial plan and the inevitable increase in the landfill fee to cover the fixed costs the facility incurs regardless." This is an unfair situation, according to the mayor of the Metropolitan City of Sassari, who describes a supra-municipal community that risks being penalized. He criticizes this by saying, "It does not take into account the efforts made to expand the door-to-door waste collection service, nor the prudent economic and financial management of the Scala Erre complex, which has allowed us to keep the waste disposal fee well below the regional average over the years." Specifically, he emphasizes, "the Regional Waste Management Plan does not define the distribution of flows, the assessment of which cannot be delegated to the plant operator, Tossilo SPA, but must remain the responsibility of the Region, which is responsible for establishing the quantities based on technical and economic feasibility criteria." In short, for Sassari, there is "the need to revise the draft agreement proposed by Tossilo to accommodate the needs of the contributing municipalities."

Northwest Sardinia also put forward another request: "The Regional Urban Waste Management Plan needs to be amended so that it truly serves as a transparent planning tool for regional waste management, taking into account specific territorial characteristics."

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