Salerno Pulita and Consorzio di Bacino VR2 del Quadrilatero Winners of the Biorepack organic recycling awards
At the traditional event hosted by Legambiente, the Salerno environmental services company and the consortium comprising 46 municipal authorities in Veneto received awards from Biorepack for their initiatives to support the separate collection of food waste, compostable bioplastics and the production of compost. The most original projects included a competition between neighbourhoods to boost the quantity and quality of organic waste collection and an “eco report card” to transform students into environmental guardians in their own homes. For Versari, the Biorepack President, “Two best practices that deserve to be recognised and replicated.”
4 July 2024 – One initiative from the North East, the other from the South. Together, they cover a population of over half a million people and dozens of municipalities, both large and small. In common, they share the ability to identify original virtuous solutions to enhance the value of a part of municipal waste that is indispensable for building virtuous models within the circular economy: compostable food waste. Consorzio di Bacino VR2 del Quadrilatero and Salerno Pulita were the two winners of the awards from Biorepack, the national consortium for the organic recycling of compostable bioplastic, at the 2024 edition of Legambiente’s Comuni Ricicloni event.
“We were immediately impressed by the initiatives launched by these two teams,” said Marco Versari, president of Biorepack. “This is why we selected them when they sought to finance their projects through our local communications competition and we decided to put their names forward when Legambiente asked us to identify two outstanding organisations with best practices in managing OFMSW. The example they have set fully deserves our recognition and indeed should be replicated. It’s thanks to the professionalism and far-sightedness of local waste managers that our country can remain at the forefront of compostable waste management.”
In the case of Consorzio di Bacino VR2 del Quadrilatero, which comprises 46 local authorities in the province of Verona, its flagship initiative is an “eco report card” distributed to primary school students. This has transformed young boys and girls into “environmental guardians”, checking how well their family members separate their organic waste. This is the main idea of the “It looks like plastic, but it’s not!” project developed in 2023.
The school children involved in the initiative submitted questionnaires to their parents, grandparents and their neighbours, in some cases. Objective: assess the level of awareness and respect for the rules for disposing of different types of waste, starting with organic and compostable waste. A way to actively involve the new generations in spreading awareness about the importance of separate collection and the management of innovative materials like bioplastics.
But the Consorzio di Bacino VR2 del Quadrilatero project also involved actions aimed at the tourists staying at local campsites. Their contribution is essential, especially during high season, to ensure that the quality of separate collection remains high.
“Making different sections of the population feel personally involved is essential to maximise results when it comes to waste management and improving separate collection,” explained Emanuela Ruffo, president of Consorzio di Bacino VR2 del Quadrilatero. “We are proud of our award from Biorepack: it proves that we are on the right track and provides further motivation for us to achieve even greater goals.”
Meanwhile in Salerno, a competition between neighbourhoods was organised to involve local citizens and raise awareness as part of the “Compost goal!” campaign. For five weeks last autumn, when organic waste was collected, samples were taken for product analysis to determine levels of impurities (extraneous matter in organic waste) and the percentage of compostable bioplastics in food waste. The neighbourhoods with the best results were given new trees to enhance local green spaces – a tangible reminder of the link between the quality of a city and the actions of individuals.
At the same time, games, workshops and a theatrical production were organised in a number of primary and secondary schools. Objective: make it easy and fun for people to understand the criteria for the correct collection of organic waste and to recognise compostable bioplastics.
“The data confirms that separate collection rates in our city are consistently above 74%,” said Vincenzo Bennet, sole director of Salerno Pulita. “To make it even better, it’s essential to focus on making use of organic waste and compostable matter: supermarket bags, disposable tableware and food containers made of compostable bioplastic. We are working on a hypothesis that also brings in non-household uses.”
For Salerno, this activity provides concrete assistance in improving the quality of the compost produced by the composting plant owned by the Municipality and managed by Salerno Pulita. “Our short-term goal is to provide compost to local companies and create a perfect example of a circular production chain,” said Massimiliano Natella, Councillor for the Environment in the Municipality of Salerno.
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BIOREPACK, the National Consortium for the Organic Recycling of Biodegradable and Compostable Plastic Packaging, is a non-profit consortium under private law, with articles of association approved by a decree from the Ministry for Ecological Transition in agreement with the Ministry for Economic Development, with the aim of ensuring development of the differentiated collection and organic recycling of bioplastics together with the organic fraction of waste (article 182 c of the Consolidated Environment Law - Legislative Decree no. 152/2006). It is made up of more than 200 companies active in the production of raw materials, processing and industrial use of UNI EN 13432-certified compostable bioplastic packaging, as well as its organic recycling.
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