The first national conference on the deposit return system (DRS) for disposable packaging for beverages was held on 7 June, animated by the associations and organizations of the campaign “A Buon Rendere – Molto più di un Vuoto”, promoted by the Associazione Comuni Virtuosi. The Metropolitan City of Turin immediately joined the campaign, which is proactively set up with the aim of facilitating and speeding up the adoption of a deposit return system (DRS) at the national level.
The purpose of the conference is clear from the title: "Aligning Italy to European experiences to maximize the circularity of resources". At a European level, in fact, 13 countries already have a security deposit system, while another 10 have defined the regulatory framework and / or prepared a date for the system to come into force within the next 3 years. These experiences demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of this system, which is why all those participating in the campaign recognize the importance and need to implement a DRS. The goal is to increase the interception of recyclable waste (avoiding it incorrect disposal into the unsorted trash bin), improve the recycling of important and increasingly scarce raw materials, and therefore reduce dependence on virgin raw materials.
Among the various interventions that have taken place, we particularly highlight the following:
- the contextualization of the European regulatory system, given by various national and international speakers. Enzo Favoino underlined how the new European framework directive leads to a substantial change in the rules of the game. The packaging producers will in fact be responsible for covering the integral costs of managing the end of life of the packaging, which also include the removal of waste from public spaces, up to now borne by public administrations. The adoption of a DRS is therefore also of great interest to producers, being the most effective method to combat littering;
- the presentation by Clarissa Morawski, founder and CEO of Reloop Platform (international partner of the campaign), who illustrated the essential and fundamental elements for a DRS;
- the precious testimonies from the Swedish DRS (active since 1984) and from the Lithuanian one (born in 2016).
An important aspect, highlighted by the coordinator of the "A Buon Rendere" campaign Silvia Ricci (Associazione Comuni Virtuosi), is the usefulness of occasions like this to put in contact the various stakeholders and operators in the sector: in fact, it is remarked the importance of communication and sharing of information as well as of data. The creation of a network that allows an exchange between the various stakeholders involved is essential both to speed up the adoption of a security deposit system, but also for this to be structured in the best possible way.
The video of the event divided into three parts is available on the youtube channel of the campaign
To learn more:
“Recuperare bottiglie e lattine con il Deposito Cauzionale aiuta l’economia e l’ambiente” (Associazione Comuni Virtuosi)
“A buon rendere” campaign against the dispersion of disposable containers (beataladifferenziata.it)