--- --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # Garbage Wars in Naples by [TIME](/author/time/) Jan 11, 2008 5:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Jan 11, 2008 5:00 AM CUT Government inefficiency, corruption and the intransigence of local populations has left the city knee-deep in trash ### Nowhere to Go  With no capacity left in its dumps and no modern incinerators at its disposal, Italy's third-largest city has been forced to leave its garbage uncollected. Chris Warde-Jones / Bloomberg ### Battleground  The government would like to re-open the Pianura dump, seen in this aerial photograph, but the local citizenry fears it will harm their health. Mafia control of waste disposal in the region has also plagued efforts to resolve the crisis. Salvatore Laporta / AP ### Protest  The citizens of Pianura clash with police on January 5 over the proposal to re-open the dump. Balducci / Sintesi / Sipa ### Piled Up  Italian Premier Romano Prodi has called in the Italian Army to help clear the city's streets, the second time in a year the military has been deployed to deal with the problem. Salvatore Laporta / AP ### Town on Fire  Police in riot gear confront a line of burning trash on a street in Naples. Salvatore Esposito / Agnfoto / Reuters ### Angry Mob  Protesters in Pianura set fire to a bus in protest of the re-opening of the dump in their district. Salvatore Laporta / AP ### Dousing the Flames  The crisis is not only confined to the city. Many of the towns in the Campania region have been affected. Luca Fenderico / LaPresse / Zumapress ### No End in Sight  Calling in the army was only enough to clear the way for students to return to school at the conclusion of the winter holidays. Though deals have been made to export the garbage to Sardinia and Germany, a more permanent solution has not yet been found. UPPA / Zumapress Garbage Wars in Naples - Photo Essays - TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7091961/garbage-wars-in-naples/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7091961/garbage-wars-in-naples/"},"headline":"Garbage Wars in Naples","datePublished":"2008-01-11T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:46:27.639Z","description":"Government inefficiency, corruption and the intransigence of local populations has left the city knee-deep in trash","url":"https://time.com/archive/7091961/garbage-wars-in-naples/","keywords":["LightBox"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7091961/garbage-wars-in-naples/","name":"Garbage Wars in Naples"}}]}] ```