Local residents protest as Rome announces new dump near Fiumicino airport.

Rome city council and the Lazio Region jointly announced a new landfill site for the Italian capital, to be located at Monte Carnevale, near Fiumicino airport to the west of the city.

Local residents have objected strongly to the news, which was announced on New Year's Eve, claiming that the area has already suffered enough from dealing with Rome's rubbish.

The proposed site for the new landfill site, to be built within 18 months, is located two kilometres from the infamous Malagrotta dump - once the largest in Europe - which closed in 2013 after serving the city for 30 years.

The decision to choose Monte Carnevale, which followed the city's rejection of Falcognana and Tragliatella as proposed landfill sites, has also caused divisions in the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) of Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi.

Stefano Vignaroli, president of the Ecomafie parliamentary commission and M5S member, described Monte Carnevale as a "shameful" choice, claiming the "already devastated" area was never "adequately reclaimed" following the closure of Malagrotta.

Raggi has long been under pressure from the president of the Lazio Region, Nicola Zingaretti, to identify a landfill site and to make Rome autonomous in relation to its waste disposal.