Between 2007 and 2008, the waste commissioner Guido Bertolaso, (the head of the civil protection department), planned to open a landfill but this was opposed by residents of Chiaiano. There was similar resistance in Pianosa to reopening a closed landfill proposed by government commissioner Giovanni De Gennaro. Some of the protests turned violent, and in May 2008, it became a penal felony to protest in the vicinity of landfills, incinerators or any plant related to waste management. It is alleged that there was collusion between local political interests and organised crime over building interests.
By July 17, 2008, Berlusconi declared that the emergency had ended.
The incinerator of Acerra has also received backlash in the local area. In 2009, the Acerra incineration facility was completed at a cost of over €350 million. The incinerator burns 600,000 tons of waste per year to produce refuse-derived fuel. The energy produced from the facility is enough to power 200,000 households per year.