The focus of the research starts from a critical investigation of the environmental situation in Lombardy in the 1990s, linked to waste disposal and the related legislation produced by the Regional Council with the approval of the Regional Law of 1 July 1993, to analyse its evolution through the example of the construction of the waste-to-energy plant1 in Dalmine (Bergamo). The growing local urban socio-economic complexity, combined with the urgent global environmental problems produced by the ongoing ecological transition, called "Anthropocene", makes us reflect whether the Dalmine plant can actually be a model of sustainable development, i.e. capable of harmonizing economic growth with the balance of the territory and the current social dynamics.