Diritto all'ambiente salubre e gestione dei rifiuti: Corte di Giustizia e Corte europea a confronto

The paper analyses the relation between waste management and protection of fundamental rights, i.e. human health and the right to a healthy environment. From 1994 to 2009 a state of emergency was in place in the Campania region, by decision of the then Prime Minister, because of serious problem of solid urban waste disposal. Concerning this issue, the Court of Justice of the European Union has played a crucial role. In its judgments in 2007 and 2010, it concluded that the Italian Republic had failed to adopt all the necessary measures to ensure that waste was recovered or disposed of without endangering human health and environment. On the other hand, the European Court of Human Rights, in Di Sarno and Others v. Italy case, found that the applicants’ lives and health had not been in danger as a result of their exposure to waste. The European Court only found a violation of their article 8 right to home and private life. What is the possible meaning of these different approaches? The sustainable development topic and the rights of future generations are the starting points of a theoretical revolution. There are some core obligations that each generation has to the next. Governments, administrative agencies, civil society and, above all, Courts, have the duty to ensure that this responsibility is carried out.