Italy's garbage problem reached its flashpoint overnight as trashed-out residents set fire to piles of the the 3,500 tons of uncollected refuse.
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's newly reelected prime minister, may force local councils to accept new rubbish dumps, despite protests. He says, "I am no longer prepared to wait until everyone is in agreement, while the piles of rubbish become mountains of trash."
One city official said local authorities were managing to remove more than 1,000 tons of trash a day while waiting for the decision on where to put it all. He begged residents to be patient and not become vigilante trash removers by setting the rubbish on fire.
Thanks to the additional collections, we should be able to overcome this emergency in four or five days, but people must collaborate. They have to stop throwing bags of rubbish out on to the streets, and, above all, they mustn't burn them.
Would piles of trash for months on your streets inspire you to a firey protest? Is setting the stinky mess on fire just adding to the woes? Is the problem of where to put the trash a troubling sign for global garbage? Are we out of space?
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Even thinking about the stench makes me sick.