Ispra Report

Polluted sites, over 5,000 municipalities involved in at least one remediation procedure

This was underlined in the report 'The state of contaminated site remediation in Italy, fourth report on regional data' by Ispra

by Davide Madeddu

29 December 2025

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

From the potential pollution event to the remediation of a contaminated area. In the national panorama, out of almost 8 thousand municipalities, more than 5 thousand are involved in at least one remediation procedure. In addition, more than 3.6 thousand have on their territory at least one remediation procedure underway, while almost as many have on their territory at least one completed remediation procedure.

The Fourth Report

Providing the framework is the Ispra report on 'The state of contaminated site remediation in Italy, fourth report on regional data'. The report, which does not include any data relating to the state of the art in Sardinia, nor those relating to Sin (Sites of National Interest) sites, contains general elaborations carried out on the 16,365 proceedings in progress and the 22,191 concluded. There are 17,406 proceedings that have passed the approval of the characterisation plan.

A complex process

The starting point of the study is the three phases concerning a potentially polluted site. The process begins when an event occurs that may have resulted in a risk of contamination. In this case, the so-called notification starts and at the end it is determined whether or not further action is needed. Depending on the case, closure takes place. If, on the other hand, it is appropriate to move on, we proceed to characterisation and risk analysis to understand the state of contamination. Once this phase has been completed and the picture defined, we move on to the next one, which involves reclamation.

Regional data without Sardinia

The data on remediation proceedings reported in the Report 'relate exclusively to proceedings under regional jurisdiction updated to 01/01/2024. Data concerning Sites of National Interest are not included,' it says. 'The 2024 population of Mosaic does not have national coverage due to the lack of data concerning the Region of Sardinia'.

Over 38 thousand sites surveyed

The total number of sites subject to remediation proceedings surveyed, the report underlines, is 38,556, of which 16,365 with proceedings in progress and 22,191 with proceedings concluded. "Proceedings in progress make up 42% of total proceedings, those concluded 58%," it goes on to say. "Seventy per cent of proceedings were concluded without the need for intervention following investigation activities (preliminary investigations, characterisation, risk analysis). Intervention was necessary only for 30% of sites with concluded proceedings'.

contaminated and uncontaminated

As for the state of contamination, "it is known for 97% of sites with proceedings in progress (15,898 proceedings out of 16,365 total) and 98% of those concluded (21,699 proceedings out of 22,191 total). At the national level, sites with an 'uncontaminated' status 'account for just over half of all the proceedings surveyed, those awaiting analytical assessments are just over 14%, and potentially contaminated and contaminated sites are just over 16% and about 10% respectively'. "Finally, there is a limited percentage of proceedings, 3%, for which the contamination status is inconsistent or unknown," the report continues.

Over 5 thousand municipalities affected

Then there is the question of territories. In this case, the study starts from a datum: ''At the reference date of the data, the national territory counts 7,899 municipalities,'' it continues. ''The municipalities that on the reference date are involved in at least one reclamation procedure are 5,039. On the whole, there are: 3,619 municipalities that have on their territory at least one remediation procedure underway; 3,680 municipalities that have on their territory at least one remediation procedure concluded'. According to the study, "3,619 municipalities, equal to almost 46% of the municipalities in Italy, are grappling with at least one reclamation procedure underway as of 01/01/2024"

Spatial distribution

Then there is the aspect related to the distribution of reclamation proceedings in the Regions and Autonomous Provinces . "The percentages of proceedings significantly higher than the national average (45%) are found for Emilia-Romagna (100%), the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (95%) and Liguria (89%)". Not only that: "The Campania Region, which stands out in the number of proceedings surveyed in Mosaic with over 3,800 proceedings," continues the study, "has a very low percentage of proceedings of environmental interest (only 17% of the total number of proceedings surveyed) due to the large number of proceedings falling within the perimeter of the former SINs that, at the time of the de-perimeter and consequent transfer to regional jurisdiction, consisted of many areas for which the remediation process had not yet been initiated.

Complex time labelling

It is not possible to estimate the duration of the individual steps of the remediation proceedings. "An estimate of the overall duration of proceedings can currently only be made on the portion of concluded proceedings for which the dates of the start and end of the proceedings are known," the study goes on to emphasise. An analysis of the duration of proceedings that does not take into account ongoing proceedings underestimates the duration of proceedings, since concluded proceedings represent, at least for older proceedings, a virtuous case compared to those dating back to the same years and still ongoing".