The campaign of the Sicilian municipal company has been officially launched, which will have access to the funds made available by the National Consortium for the organic recycling of biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging. From now until November the project includes a series of initiatives to help the citizens of Messina learn about the advantages and good rules of organic recycling of compostable packaging together with wet waste.
Financially supporting information initiatives capable of helping citizens to learn more and better about the advantages of compostable bioplastics and the correct way to dispose of them together with the rest of organic waste: this is the objective of the “Local Communication 2024 call” promoted by Biorepack, a national consortium for the organic recycling of biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging.
Dozens of municipal administrations from all over Italy and bodies delegated to waste management responded to the appeal. In the end, there were 15 winners. They will receive the 200,000 euros allocated for the tender. Among them, Messinaservizi Bene Comune Spa, an in-house environmental services company of the Municipality of Messina.
“Every waste counts, the Future is Compost!” is the name of the campaign addressed to the population of the City of Messina, to raise awareness on the accurate identification and correct disposal of packaging made of compostable bioplastic. The award was given by the Evaluation Commission composed of two representatives of Biorepack and one of ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities).
“The campaign, which officially kicks off these days, is in continuity with the notable progress that has seen Messina go from a separate waste collection rate of 18% in 2018 to 55.4% in 2023” explains Mariagrazia Interdonato, President of Messinaservizi Bene Comune. “This result is testimony to our and the community’s commitment to sustainable practices, positioning Messina as an example of excellence in Southern Italy and a driving force for epochal change in Sicily. The results expected from the campaign are designed to further push the needle towards the ambitious objective of 65% separate waste collection”.
The new campaign on compostable bioplastics, in particular, will focus on raising awareness among citizens through social initiatives and interactive videos as well as the involvement of students from city schools.
The objective is to make the correct management of organic waste and bioplastics a daily practice, exploiting the power of digital and the educational influence of schools to amplify the message.
Presentations and interactive activities will be organized in schools to ensure that students then pass on the good practices learned to their families.
Finally, community composting initiatives are also planned, not only to help reduce waste sent to landfill but also to educate on the practice and benefits of this technique for valorising organic waste.
Furthermore, as part of the campaign “Every waste counts, the Future is Compost!”, the Junker App has been activated in Messina, available to citizens to recognize each bioplastic packaging or product by carrying out a text search or scanning the barcode. on the packaging. The app shows all the symbols present on the packaging which certify its compostability and it will be much easier for citizens to identify the illegal “false organic” bags to be used for organic waste collection.
In this way, it will be possible to increase both the quality and volume of wet waste and compostable packaging destined for treatment plants. Thanks to the correct separate collection of organic waste, in Messina it was possible to obtain compost and use it for the maintenance and preparation of the city’s flowerbeds. In the last two years, during the Christmas period, it has also been used for displays in the main squares.
“Organic waste represents an extremely significant share of all waste produced by citizens, equal to approximately 40% of the total” recalls Marco Versari, president of the Biorepack consortium. “Compostable bioplastics, since their inception, have been conceived as a tool capable of making the collection of this component of urban waste more effective. Helping the population to recognize them is therefore in everyone’s interest: the campaigns and initiatives implemented in the territories thanks to the Biorepack tender will help to continue in the right direction, eliminating doubts, errors and misinformation”.
What is Biorepack
BIOREPACK, National Consortium for the organic recycling of biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging, is a private law, non-profit consortium, with statute approved by decree of the Ministry of Ecological Transition in agreement with the Minister of Economic Development, with the aim to guarantee the development of separate collection and organic recycling of bioplastics together with the organic fraction of waste (art. 182 ter of the TUA – Legislative Decree no. 152/2006). It is made up of over 200 companies, active in the production of raw materials, transformation and industrial use of UNI EN 13432 certified compostable bioplastic packaging, as well as their organic recycling.
