As waste crisis looms, Rome asked to ignore wrapping gifts this Christmas

Italian capital seems to have been reeling under the longstanding issue of waste collection. In order to keep a check on it, the authorities have urged the residents of Rome to reduce the use of wrapping paper on gifts this Christmas.  

The new leaders of the city are looking to make concerted efforts to fulfill the promise of cleaning up the streets by Christmas.  

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Along with the appeal to ignore wrapping paper, the authorities are also giving bonus to the garbage collectors to check seasonal absenteeism.  

Sabrina Alfonsi, who is the councillor for the environment, told Il Messaggero that the wrapping paper issue was “no joke”.  

Alfonsi added, “As an administration we have taken all the possible actions to improve (waste) collection and to find new outlets for the rubbish that is produced in Rome. Christmas is a particularly complicated period, especially for parcels. The production of waste is growing, when instead it must decrease.”  

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As the comments generated criticism, she clarified that it is a way to do your bit for keeping the city clean. “There is no initiative on behalf of the council to reduce Christmas parcels. This is a problem that concerns packaging, which is a problem not only for Rome but the whole of Europe,” Alfonsi told the news agency Ansa.  

(With inputs from agencies)