Environmentally-friendly. These words are more often than not aspirational. Not so in Vatican City, however.
The 44.5 hectare state hopes it “can in some way become a good example of a ‘green’ and non-polluting state.”
Recycling initiatives were established in 2008. Today there are over 200 household rubbish and recycling containers dotted around the state for people to drop off their rubbish.
Staff are employed to ensure waste is disposed of correctly.
Residents have been educated about how to follow the Vatican’s waste disposal system.
This includes how to separate different types of materials.
The State also trains and employs staff to dispose of the collected waste products.
The paper and cardboard are compacted and recycled. Organic compost is put on the gardens.
Hazardous goods’disposal has strict guidelines.
Pope Francis’s encyclical “Laudato Sii, on the care for our common home” played an important part in improving the State’s attention to waste disposal, according to his press staff.
“Care for our common home” has been a popular topic during Pope Francis’ pontificate.
He often discusses issues like by pollution within the context of how harming the environment also harms people.
“Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity,” he wrote in the encyclical.
“So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture.”
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