It now looks as though the rubbish dump at Malagrotto will live on for at least another four months. It should close on 31 December, but because of a lack of reasonable alternatives it will be kept open a bit longer.

The latest setback is because of the lack of applications for the €100 million contract to transfer a part of Rome’s rubbish abroad next year. After several failed attempts to find alternative rubbish sites near the capital the city came up with a plan to transport about 1,200 tonnes a day of its untreated rubbish abroad. However there has been a lack of bidders for the job.

This leaves little alternative but to keep Malagrotta open for a while longer, probably until the end of April 2013. This is the third time that the closure date for the infamous site to the west of the capital has been put back.