PLEF(Planet Life Economy Foundation) invites businesses and citizens to join the Manifesto to encourage the reuse of food containers (and more), and sign the petition addressed to policymakers.
Indeed, administrative, fiscal and sanitary loopholes hinder the full expression of the great potential of virtuous circuits of reuse and upcycling (virtuous recovery) of materials, which is also highly topical in the food sector.
The Manifesto for the Reuse of Containers
The Manifesto stems from the commitment of PLEF, Urban Giacimenti Urbani, and PCUP in raising awareness and proposing solutions related to the issue of reuse. A key piece of the sustainable economy.
The creators of the initiative are the founders of RiC – Stay in Circle, the permanent reuse table established in November 2021 headed by Urban Giacimenti Urbani together with Pcup and Planet Life Economy Foundation. Supporting it are the University of Milan Bicocca, the Consortium of Food Distributors and the Associazione Comuni Virtuosi.
Packaging reuse, the unresolved issues
Disposable packaging still accounts for 36 percent of waste in the EU. Much of this waste is not managed properly, and less than 40 percent of the materials go for recycling. Reversing course is difficult, however, due to administrative, fiscal and health gaps.
In fact, the full implementation of the reuse objective postulates the solution of some critical issues affecting B2C(business to consumers) distribution in particular, through interventions along the entire supply chain in fact suggested in the Manifesto, with the following recommendations.
1 – Production
Progressively restrict the possibility of placing disposable containers on the market by replacing them with reusable containers, possibly made from recycled materials. Encourage this management transformation with incentives on the purchase and use of these reusable containers.
2 – Transformation
Encourage with tax breaks and with the identification of specific budget ratios the maximum dematerialization of production processes, thus reducing the amount of materials placed on the market.
Also, encourage a gradual shift from disposable packaging to specific reusable equipment or containers.
3 – Distribution (GDO, HORECA, public establishments)
Encourage with tax breaks and the identification of specific budget ratios the transformation of sales area layouts by limiting the sale of products with disposable packaging and expanding areas dedicated to bulk serving of dry and liquid products.
At the same time, promote the dissemination and sale of reusable containers with associated collection and crediting of deposits where appropriate.
Mandatory inclusion on the receipt of the cost of the container in take-away establishments and, in the long run, a requirement to offer alternatives to disposable is also helpful for this purpose.
4 – Consumers
Encourage their proactive involvement with communication campaigns to promote bulk products and the phasing out of disposables, networking all entities working towards this goal, and highlighting the goals of Agenda 2030 and theSingle-Use-Plastic (SUP) directive.
Consumer-actor awareness of these issues, will be the basic lever for the effective transformation of processing and distribution enterprises.
5 – Waste collection, recycling and disposal.
The gradual implementation of these actions will result in a progressive decrease in overall waste, in line with the first option-Reduce-in the so-called waste hierarchy.
Ad hoc regulatory intervention
On the subject of reusable containers at retail stores/GDO outlets and public establishments, the regulations are meager.
In Italy, the only real regulatory reference is the 2019 ‘Climate Decree,’ which regulates how consumers can use‘own containers‘ for food takeout, implicitly showing that the practice is allowed. (1)
Further and more recent call for reusable containers to replace single-use containers appears in the European Commission’s guidelines for the implementation of the UAS Directive. (2)
These generic directions need a single act to shape the whole subject with respect to the issues of food safety and hygiene, facilities for administrative and fiscal management, and, finally, incentives, in a logic of minimum bureaucracy and maximum implementation simplification.
Three areas of focus
Signatories to the Manifesto for Reuse point to the most urgent issues to be addressed:
– FOOD SAFETY. There is a need to move beyond the watchdog role hitherto worn by food safety and hygiene authorities and invite them to play a proactive role in establishing clear and broad rules on the use of reusable containers. Today, the only provision on the subject concerns the conditions for reuse of the consumer-supplied container, in the aforementioned Climate Decree,
– administration. Clarity is needed on the proper management of financial, accounting and tax flows of deposits (the returnable vacuum), particularly with respect to VAT treatment,
– incentives. Measures to support the sale of bulk or draught products (under Article 7 Climate Decree) are modest and exclude public establishments, such as bars and restaurants. An organic framework and strategy to promote and facilitate the ‘reusable’ is needed, including, for example, by working on VAT.
How to join the PLEF Manifesto for Reuse
The first signatories of the Reuse Manifesto are Giacimenti Urbani, Pcup, Planet Life Economy Foundation ETS, Università degli Studi Milano Bicocca, Consorzio Distributori Alimentari, Associazione Comuni Virtuosi, Legambiente Lombardia and Ecor Naturasì, and the benefit company WIISE S.r.l., which manages this website, among others.
– > Every business is invited to participate by filling out the application form.
– > Citizens can in turn sign the petition addressed to the Italian government and parliament to dispose guidelines and implementing decrees.
Notes
(1) See Article 7 of Decree-Law no. October 14, 2019, no. 111, converted with amendments by Law Dec. 12, 2019, no. 141 (so-called climate decree)
(2) The European Commission’s Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/162 of February 4, 2022, which lays down the modalities for the implementation of the “UAS Directive,” indicates among the measures to achieve a reduction in the consumption of disposable beverage cups or glasses and disposable food containers, the promotion of reusable alternatives to these types of disposable containers, starting with specific contexts such as public offices, workplaces, and large events.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
