At the conclusion of investigations carried out by the soldiers of the Carabinieri Forestry Unit of Rimini and the Port Authority – Coast Guard of Rimini, a warehouse was identified used as an uncontrolled storage of waste, with a considerable quantity of obsolete electronic equipment (WEEE), disused furniture and end-of-life tyres, equal to approximately 500 cubic metres, stored inside a warehouse of approximately 3,200 square meters in the Municipality of Rimini, probably for the purpose of their illicit shipment to foreign countries.
Judicial police investigations made it possible to trace the alleged perpetrator of the crime, who was referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rimini for illicit waste management and trafficking.
The law provides for the punishment of arrest from three months to one year or a fine from 2600 to 26,000 euros for anyone who carries out waste collection, transport, recovery, disposal, trading and intermediation activities without the required authorisation, registration or communication if it concerns non-hazardous waste. In the case of hazardous waste (such as some categories of WEEE) the penalty is more serious and becomes imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine from 2600 euros to 26,000 euros.
Furthermore, anyone who carries out a shipment of waste in breach of the legal requirements and EU regulations incurs the crime of “waste trafficking”. This crime is punishable by a fine ranging from 1,550 euros to 26,000 euros and imprisonment for up to two years.
