Italy wastewater and sewage infrastructure upgrades

Italy is advancing a series of green‑infrastructure projects aimed at improving wastewater treatment and reducing river‑borne litter. In Bari, a €28 million micro‑tunnelling scheme will separate black and white water streams and link a new lift station to existing collectors, with work scheduled for completion by 2029. On the Adriatic coast, a floating barrier on the Tronto River, part of the Plasticentro programme, has already captured about 13,000 m³ of waste, predominantly plastic, to prevent litter from reaching the sea.

Separate but concurrent initiatives are underway in other regions. At Trapani‑Birgi’s Vincenzo Florio Airport in Sicily, a €1.1 million upgrade will expand the airport’s wastewater treatment capacity to serve up to two million passengers annually, adding advanced filtration and an ecological waste‑collection island. In northern Italy, a €314.5 million project for the southern shore of Lake Garda will construct a 60‑km sewer network, five pumping stations and a 9.8‑km sub‑aquatic pipeline, feeding a central plant that will serve the equivalent of 200,000 residents and provide reclaimed water for irrigation. The first phase is due by 2030, with the full system targeted for 2034.

Collectively, these efforts illustrate a coordinated push across Italy to modernise sewage and wastewater systems, mitigate plastic pollution, and promote water reuse, with timelines extending from the late 2020s to the mid‑2030s.