Virtuous cases of sustainable packaging awarded

Progress is a challenging word: dictionaries remind us that it stands for go towards a goal, push forward. And here we are. The problem is which direction to take, especially when we talk about an important issue such as the environment, which affects us all, especially today, with the knots of decades of neglect that are coming home to roost. This is why it becomes essential to talk about reuse, new technologies, facilitation of recycling, use of recycled materials and e-commerce. How does the CONAI, the National Packaging Consortium: just think that in 2021 alone in Italy the recycling and recovery of packaging headed by CONAI generated one billion and 525 million euros of environmental benefits. And CONAI reward virtuous companies with Ecopackthe CONAI tender for ecodesign. On the podium innovation and love for the environment in a new record year for the Call, which since its inception (in 2014) has seen an increase in adhesions every year: 383 cases presented, against 326 in 2021, by Italian companies that have revised their packaging to make it more sustainable and reduce its impact on the environment. Five super prizes who have used at least one of the seven levers of preventioni.e. circular innovation incentives capable of making a pack greener: reuse, facilitation of recycling activities, use of recycled/recovered material, saving of raw materials, optimization of production processes, optimization of logistics, simplification of the packaging system.

The winners: Collistar Spa wins for leverage reuse. She changed her powder bag Impeccable providing a rechargeable one, with a recycled plastic shell; the refill is also made of recycled plastic. An intervention that has reduced CO2 emissions by almost 60%.and which has more than consumption halved both water and energy. Collistar also receives a special mention from Legambiente. For the use of new applications or technologies the prize goes to Di Mauro Officine Grafiche Spa: the 25 kg bag of fish feed, intended for farmers in the B2B channel reduces by more than 40 percentage points both CO2 emissions and water consumption. Fiorini International Spa takes the podium for the facilitation of recycling activities. Its packaging for Antico Pastificio Umbro pasta becomes 100% recyclable in the paper supply chain, and its production significantly reduces CO2 released into the atmosphere. Magic Pack Srl wins for the use of recycled material. Its expanded polystyrene tray intended for contact with food cuts both water and energy consumption by about 10%. and CO2 emissions. In the end, Selex Spa places in the top-five for the use of new applications or technologies for its mozzarella packaging that reduces the thickness of the packaging and reduces its weight by 4%.. The award-winning ecodesign interventions are estimated to have resulted reductions 11% of water consumption, 22% of energy consumption, and 29% of carbon dioxide.

Are these five innovations a win 10,000 euros each, i.e. the slice of prize money destined for five super-winners. Special mention for the optimization of a packaging in the e-commerce sector a Rotomail Italy Spawhich has created a raw material savings equal to 36%, plus a 34% reduction in rejects. In general, attention to an efficient use of resources is confirmed as the way forward.