Recycled plastics in packaging and concrete support for cleanup operations in the sea, which is overrun with plastics and
microplastics
. It is the new vanguard of
Coop Italy
, the only Italian large-scale retail trade (GDO) group to join the
Pledging Campaign
. An example to follow, including in the context of the program promoted by the European Commission to increase the use of recycled plastic packaging.
Packaging and crates, more recycled plastic
Coop Italia ‘s goal is to achieve in 6 years the replacement of 6,400 tons of virgin plastic (a volume comparable to 60 trucks in a column on 1 km of road) with recycled material. The operation will be completed by 2025 on all branded products, food and non-food, from:
– bottles of mineral water. For the 27 Coop-branded water references, 30 percent recycled will be reached in December 2019, rising to 50 percent in January 2023,
– bottles of household and laundry detergents (whose impact on the waste cycle has already been reduced by offering refills in pouches),
– trays
for fruit and vegetables.
Reusable crates-used to handle fruit, vegetables, meat and fish-are also affected by Coop Italy’s project. A commitment Invisible, in the eyes of consumers, but measurable and significant in terms of environmental impact. In the fruit and vegetable sector alone, 600,000 crates are in fact replaced each year. The versions currently in use contain 40% recycled plastic, rising to 60% by 2025.
The primacy of the
leader
of Italian retail in adopting virtuous (and onerous) commitments is well known. Theelimination of palm oil from all branded food products, the exclusion of antibiotics from livestock supply chains (on meat, fish and eggs, a ban on the killing of male chicks of laying hens. And much more, for the consumAtors for whom the group is the first cooperative, but also for workers in agriculture and industry. Recalling Coop’s premiership in implementing the only social sustainability standard, SA8000, for some 20 years now. On all fronts of sustainability, Coop leads the line, in Italy and in Europe.
Fifteen years before
European decision makers finally decided to ban single-use plastic items, in 2004 Coop replaced the ‘old’
plastic
of disposable tableware with PLA, which is derived from plant starches (as well as biodegradable and compostable). As well as replacing petroleum derivatives with biodegradable materials in ear hygiene sticks.
10 years ahead of EU deadlines, as early as the end of 2020, products in the Vivi Verde line will be packaged with only recyclable or compostable or reusable materials. And by 2022 – 8 years ahead of the deadlines set by Europe – Coop processing will be extended to all branded products, with a commercial value of about 3 billion euros/year.
The sea is us
The cleanliness of the sea from plastics and environmental information to consumers are other projects initiated by consumer cooperatives. Just these days Ancc-LegaCoop (the National Association of Consumer Cooperatives), together with Lifegate, provided Marina Genova with the #Seabin. A floating device that can collect more than 500 kg of plastic waste, including microplastics and microfibers, by filtering seawater in a continuous cycle. And after summer 2019, Coop Italy will launch a new information campaign targeting its 6.8 million members.
A further example of progress, ‘this is an important revival of a historic commitment to environmental advocacy. From the actions of the 1980s (one for all the campaign that banned pesticides) to the more recent ‘Water in my house’ (2010-2013, aimed at encouraging the use of tap water and in any case mineral water from nearby sources), to outreach to branded product suppliers. With the “Coop for Kyoto” project in 2006, which then evolved over the years with “Coop Together for a Sustainable Future” (2017). The results are important: strong campaign adherence with 328 suppliers involved in processes to sustainably improve their production performance.’
#PlasticLess is the true principle to be followed at all levels of the supply chain, including consumAtors. Less packaging, less plastic and much less virgin plastic in packaging, exclude it from single-use items wherever technically possible.
Dario Dongo and Marta Strinati
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
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".
