Italian catering is increasingly green

The food system it is one of the most polluting, considering that every year it emits approximately 17 billion tons of CO2. It is therefore not surprising that the sector has long been in the spotlight and this also applies to the world of catering, called to make an effort to limit the impact of its activities on the environment and make itself more sustainable. In recent years, several steps forward have been made on this front, so much so that according to a recent research, 80% of Italian restaurateurs have adopted green solutions since 2020. “The theme of sustainability now appears to be increasingly strategic in the world of catering and this is also thanks to the push from consumers”, he observes Roberto Calugi, general director of Fipethe Italian federation of public establishments part of Confcommerce. “In fact, our survey shows that more than 70% of customers believe that sustainability is a very important concept and that restaurateurs must take action both on the environmental front, for example with initiatives that aim to reduce the use of plastic, both in terms of sustainability of the workplace”.

The PPWR regulation

And just accelerate it even further sustainability of the sector is the goal of the proposal Community Regulation Ppwr which reforms the regulation of packaging and wasteproviding for the ban on single-use plastic packaging for food and drinks consumed inside the premises (trays, plates, cups and so on) and single-use packaging for condiments, preserves, sauces, milk, sugar for consumption on site or take away from 2030. Furthermore, the legislation introduces theobligation for companies to offer a certain percentage of their products to consumers in reusable or refillable packaging, for example for drinks and takeaway meals. In particular, cold and hot drinks filled at the take-away point of sale must be made available in reusable packaging within a reuse system, to the extent of 30% of the total, starting from 2030 and 95% starting from 2040. While food ready for take-away will have to be made available in reusable packaging within a system for reuse to the extent of 20% of the total from 2030 and 75% from 2040. The goal is to reverse the negative trend related to packaging waste which has increased by more than 20% in the last decade and could see a further leap of 19% until 2030 if no action is taken quickly.

Criticalities

The legislation, however, as it was conceived is not convincing. “The proposed regulation focuses heavily on reuse at the expense of recycling, in which Italy has invested heavily, so much so that today 73.3% of the material dedicated to packaging is recycled, a goal that we achieved well in advance of the deadline of 2030 set by the European Union. This could nullify all the investments made in recent years by our companies in technology and innovation”, observes the general director of FIPE. It should also be considered, he adds, “that reusable products are mainly made of plastic and this would lead to a greater proliferation of this material, while currently take-away packaging in Italy is made of recyclable paper”. Furthermore, for health reasons, reusable containers will have to undergo washing, sterilization and drying processes. “Operations that involve the consumption of significant quantities of water and energy, and therefore higher CO2 emissions and higher energy costs”. Under the proposed regulation, consumers will also have to be able to fill their containers. “This is an aspect that opens up hygienic-sanitary critical issues: it will in fact be more difficult to guarantee the food safety of consumers and also inside our premises in the event of infected containers”. According to Calugi, the legislation should therefore be reformulated not by contrasting recycling with reuse and by adapting it to the situation of individual countries. “Those who are already good at recycling should in fact be able to continue on this path, perhaps by setting even more challenging goals,” he concludes.