Italy steps up waste crime enforcement as builder’s license revoked and waste trafficker freed

Police in Campania seized a construction entrepreneur dumping large quantities of hazardous waste, including crushed asbestos, along a road in Orta di Atella. The operator, who runs a firm based in Salerno and lives in Caivano, was charged with illegal waste abandonment and had his driving licence withdrawn. The municipality will bear the roughly €10,000 cost of cleaning the site.

Separately, a Naples‑based suspect, Antonio Avitabile, who was accused of orchestrating a network that moved special waste from Naples to Emilia‑Romagna, was released after a court annulled his precautionary detention. During the investigation, the financial police seized assets valued at more than €12.5 million, which were considered proceeds of the illicit waste trade.