«Look: where it is possible and really advantageous from an economic and environmental point of view, the reuse of glass packaging is already a practice of the Italian system. But if the new European measure on waste management were to pass as it was proposed and extend indiscriminately to all sectors and all situations, I believe that many problems would be created, in the face of questionable ecological advantages ». Gianni Scotti, president of CoReVethe consortium of the Conai system which brings together 109 glass companies, including recoverers and recyclers, industrial and commercial importers, and packaging producers – brings some numbers to make his reasoning understood.
In 2021 almost 2.2 million tons
«Thanks to the law that 25 years ago created the consortium system in Italy, our country has now been two or three years beyond the recycling targets set by the EU for 2030 – explains Scotti -. This applies to all materials, but limiting ourselves to that of glass, last year we recycled almost 2.2 million tons of glass packaging waste, out of about 2.4 million sent to separate collection. And we are working with Anci, the Association of Italian Municipalities, to reduce those about 400 thousand tons that, unfortunately, still end up in landfills today, through an investment of about 10 million euros in support of local authorities “. Actions that will also serve to contain imports of glass waste (about 210 thousand tons in 2021, mainly from Austria, France and Germany), determined by the strong demand for scrap by Italian manufacturing companies.
Recycling beyond EU targets
Quantities, the latter, which according to the rules established by European legislation, are not counted in determining the overall national rate, which last year therefore “stopped” at 76.6%, remaining in any case higher than the 75% target. set by the European Union. “In short, the system works and contributes to making Italy the third largest producer in the world of glass packaging for food use, behind the United States and China, with 4.7 million tons of hollow glass produced in 2021, of which 2 million sold abroad ”, adds the president of CoReVe. A result that a country poor in raw materials like ours can achieve thanks to this recovery and recycling system that allows you to collect and treat glass waste to make it secondary raw material for industrial use.
The reuse mechanism
“This does not mean that a reuse mechanism does not exist in Italy too, but it is a particularly delicate issue – observes Scotti – because in our country, as well as in France and Spain, the theme of the iconic nature of packaging is very important. , unlike in other countries. Take Germany for example, where all beers are contained in bottles of essentially identical shapes. With us, a glance at the shelves of any supermarket is enough to notice the variety of shapes and colors used for beers and mineral waters, but also for jars for food use. It is a very important issue for companies, which is also part of very specific marketing strategies and which are therefore not willing to give up their uniqueness ».
It is easy to understand, therefore, that a reuse system would imply – for each store – to receive back the products used and then send it back to the specific supplier or manufacturer who will disinfect it, remove the label, apply a new one, to put it back on the market. the same remanufactured packaging. A complex system, which would require large retailers to make available additional and differentiated spaces according to the products, without counting the physical distances to send waste back to exactly that specific producer.