L‘Italy is very virtuous: already in 2020 it reached the target that the European Union had set for 2030 to recycle 85% of paper. We are ahead, and we must be proud of it. The occasion to remember it, and to set the bar even higher, is October 31st, World Savings Day (as well as Halloween!). “The savings that good paper collection and recycling allow»Says Daniele Montalbetti, general manager of Comieco (National Consortium for the recovery and recycling of cellulosic-based packaging) “they represent a dividend for the environment, local communities, industry and services“.
31 October is World Savings Day: Comieco reminds us how much money is saved thanks to paper recycling.
“Until 2005 Italy imported 1.5 million tons of waste paper”, he continues, “while today 90 percent of the fibers used for packaging are made from recycled paper, and we are self-sufficient. World Savings Day prompts us to remember what has been done and what needs to be done: every year 800 thousand tons of paper and cardboard still end up in landfills, 100 thousand in Rome alone. A huge waste ». But what are the main savings we can have with good paper collection and recycling?
1. Savings day: every month 60 million euros do not end up in landfills
If we weren’t careful, every month we would throw 10 thousand tons of paper in landfills which would cost 60 million euros, or 720 million a year, to manage. With this figure, we could build 426 energy-efficient schools.
2. Municipalities with the card earn
The Municipalities affiliated with Comieco receive an economic consideration as virtuous. During 2021, the consideration was a total of 218 million. Not bad!
3 Comieco explains how much CO2 is saved
Recycling also means fewer carbon dioxide emissions that would be produced for processing cellulose. It is estimated that the savings are equal to 3.5 million tons, equal to those of a plane that goes around the world 3493 times.
World Savings Day: Comieco reminds us that a lot of CO2 is saved by recycling paper.
4 Less paper
Recycling means saving on paper production: “Awareness is essential,” adds Montalbetti. «As well as attention to the quality of the paper collected: still many do not know that the receipts go undifferentiated. From 2023, however, all packaging must have a label with the methods of disposalin this way mistakes will be avoided ».
5 We have already saved 10 years
We are 10 years ahead of the European Union’s 85 percent recycling target for 2030. In 2021, every Italian separated over 60 kg of paper and cardboard, and in total over 3.6 million tons of paper were collected and recycled. “In Europe we are the pink jersey, together with Germany”, concludes Montalbetti.
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