The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) recently concluded its 2023 edition, highlighting the importance of environmental sustainability and practices aimed at reducing waste.
Born with the aim of raising public awareness on the issues of responsible waste management, the SERR saw widespread participation from individuals, schools, associations, businesses and public administrations.
This year's central theme focused attention on the crucial role of packaging. This thematic choice provided a precious opportunity to critically examine consumer habits and to promote innovative solutions to reduce the environmental impact linked to packaging.
The award ceremony for Italian shares took place on March 21st in Rome. Five winners were selected in as many categories, each with a significant contribution in tackling the waste challenge and promoting more sustainable behaviour.
For the Business category, the award was awarded to Seeleiten-Lake Spa Hotel. The property demonstrated a tangible commitment to rethinking its internal processes to reduce waste and offered engaging guest experiences focused on sustainability.
In the Public Administration category, the Parco Naturale dell’Aveto received praise for its project "Plastic free day nelle scuole del Parco dell'Aveto", an initiative which actively involved local schools in the commitment against the use excessive use of plastic, promoting more responsible behaviour.
Among the Citizens, Emanuela Iacono was awarded for her project "Invito a pranzo per contagio di buone prassi. Non acquistare un rifiuto e sfida la mente", which involved the community in a self-managed lunch focused on the reuse of packaging, promoting concrete reflection on the importance of recycling and reuse.
In the Schools category, the Ecoschool Primary School received recognition for the "ECO PACK ED ECO GNAM" project, which saw students engage in food workshops and in the creation of eco-sustainable packaging, demonstrating a strong commitment to raising awareness and adoption of sustainable practices.
Finally, for the Associations category, Legambiente Langhe Roero was awarded for the project "VASCHETTA E SACCHETTO: IL RIUTILIZZO E' PERFETTO!", an initiative aimed at promoting the responsible and sustainable use of packaging through concrete awareness-raising actions in distribution chains.
In conclusion, the EWWR 2023 highlighted the transformative potential of local actions and collaboration between different sectors in the commitment to waste reduction. The awarded initiatives represent an example of the vast panorama of initiatives and projects that were presented this year and which have actively contributed to raising awareness on the topic of waste reduction.
During the event, the theme of EWWR 2024 was presented: food waste. The thematic focus of the 16th edition, already used in 2014, was chosen to address the problem of growing food waste. According to data from the European Commission, over 58 million tonnes of organic waste are generated every year – 131 kilograms per inhabitant. This year too, between 16 and 24 November, citizens across Europe will be asked to devise new actions aimed at reducing, reusing and recycling
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PROCLAMATE LE AZIONI VINCITRICI DELLA SERR 2023. IL TEMA CENTRALE DEL 2024 SARÀ IL FOOD WASTE