thursday 13th february 2014
MILAN SAYS YES TO WET WASTE COLLECTION
Near unanimous support for the collection of organic waste which stimulates more careful separation of other materials. Product testing shows a low contamination with non-compostable waste.
Novara, 13 February 2014 – “Necessary, appropriate, essential. Long-awaited.” That was the view expressed by over 60% of the citizens of Milan about the separate collection of domestic wet waste -
which is currently of interest to 75% of Milan's inhabitants - in the survey commissioned from ISPO
Ricerche by the “Economia e Sostenibilità” Association [Economy and Sustainability Association] and
presented on 10 February at Palazzo Marino in the presence of Councillor Pierluigi Maran.
The new procedures for managing the collection of kitchen waste at home have not been seen as difficult or annoying: over 90% of Milanese respondents said that having a dustbin at home for wet waste, throwing bags into a dedicated communal bin and remembering to buy specific bags were
acceptable requirements. This approval crossed divisions of gender, age and level of education and was highest among those who already separated organic waste. Specifically, 6 out of 10 Milanese people who began collecting wet waste in 2012 said that as a result of this process they were now paying more attention to the entire separate waste collection process.
“Among inhabitants of Italian cities, Milanese people have shown the highest uptake of separate collection. Following the excellent data on the quality of wet waste collected, the results of the ISPO survey show that the public is increasingly aware of waste collection and is therefore ensuring it takes the necessary measures. This shows how the separate collection of wet waste can stimulate the separation of other materials,” said Alessandro Ferlito, Novamont’s Sales Director.
Novamont is lending its support to the choice made by the Municipality of Milan and AMSA, with assistance from Virosac in the third phase, by making a free donation of 700,000 bags made from Mater-Bi®, the bioplastic which is biodegradable and compostable according to international standard EN 13432. When used together with the aerated bin provided by AMSA, these bags can be used for the collection of kitchen waste and sent for composting, a perfect example of a virtuous system that has an impact on the entire production-consumption-disposal cycle. For each tonne of organic waste sent for composting, an estimated 94.9 kg of CO2 can be saved. Should organic waste sent for composting in Milan reach around 130,000 tonnes, it would be possible to achieve annual savings of around 12,337 tonnes of CO2.
Product testing shows that average contamination of wet waste collected in Milan is 4.27%. This is an
excellent result for a city like Milan.
“With the right tools, the quality of the residential collection of organic waste could be greatly simplified. Milan is preparing for EXPO 2015 with a virtuous system which would confirm how much power could be generated by a small everyday gesture on the part of citizens and a large, far-sighted organisational system,” said Ferlito.
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Novamont is the leading company in the development and production of materials and biochemicals through the integration of chemistry, the environment and agriculture. With 323 employees (20% employed full time in R&D), it registered a turnover of €135 million in 2012 and made continuous investments in research and development activities (4.9% of its 2012 turnover). It has a portfolio of around 1,000 patents. It has its headquarters in Novara, a production facility in Terni and research laboratories in Novara, Terni and Piana di Monte Verna (CE).
Novamont has subsidiaries in Porto Torres (SS) and Bottrighe (RO). It has commercial offices in Germany, France and the United States and operates through its own distributors in Benelux, Scandinavia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Novamont Press Office: press@novamont.com
tel.: + 39.0321.6996.11
cell.: +39.340.1166.426
www.novamont.com