Eco-design: CONAI’s call for proposals 2022 ... and more

Eco-design is once again the theme of the ninth edition of the Conai Call for Entries: companies that have revised their packaging in a sustainable way have until April 29, 2022 to apply. A jury of technicians will choose the winners and the award ceremony will take place in Milan in mid-November.

As a complement to the many activities of Conai, also this year returns its call - to - action aimed at Italian companies that have revised their packaging in a green key, to emphasize how the defense of the environment also passes through prevention. A theme dear to the heart of Conai president Luca Ruini, who is credited with having supported and conceived the Call for Action, which has grown over the years in terms of membership and reputation as a support and promotion tool for companies that know how to combine environmental awareness with economic feasibility. Not by chance, for the 2021 edition of the Call for Proposals, 319 solutions were evaluated (+10% compared to the previous edition), nominated by 156 companies.

Purpose and contents

The Call for Proposals was created to promote the most innovative packaging solutions in terms of sustainability. It is open to all member companies that have revised their packaging with eco-design interventions by adopting at least one of the seven levers of prevention: reuse, facilitation of recycling activities, use of recycled materials, saving of raw materials, optimization of logistics, simplification of the packaging system and optimization of production processes. It should be remembered that, in 2021, packaging subject to the contribution of other EPR systems (albeit without recognition of an economic nature) were admitted for the first time to the competition, as well as cases with a change of material, provided, however, that there was an improvement in terms of reuse and recyclability.

Awards

As a reminder, applications for the competition must be received by the end of April. Once again this year, 500,000 euros are up for grabs: 450,000 will be divided among all the award-winning cases on the basis of a ranking obtained by evaluating the adoption of the seven prevention levers. 50,000 euros will instead be allocated to five “super prizes” for circular innovation of 10,000 euros.

The value and values of a circular system

Conai’s actions - a brief overview of which is given below - are aimed at further consolidating relations with institutions, businesses and citizens, communicating the results of its activities transparently and supporting the culture of sustainability at various levels. 

According to the Sustainability Report presented in October 2021 - which every year quantifies the environmental and sustainable performance of the system - the economic benefits of the management of packaging waste by Conai in 2020 reached a total value of 1.274 billion euros.

In detail, the material recovered thanks to recycling is worth 381 million euros; the economic induced generated by the chain is equal to 616 million; the value of the energy produced thanks to energy recovery, on the other hand, is 22 million.

In addition, there is the indirect benefit represented by the economic value of CO2 avoided: calculated in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2009/33 of the European Parliament, in 2020 amounted to 225 million euros.

The rate of packaging recycling in Italy in 2020 has therefore exceeded forecasts. The health emergency has therefore not held back this sector of the circular economy: 73% of the packs placed on the market were in fact sent for recycling (+3.3% compared to 2019).

More than 9.5 million tons of packaging recycled out of the total of 13 million released for consumption (despite a 4% drop in the latter compared to 2019, due to the disappearance of packaging intended for the commercial and industrial sectors).

In detail, 371 thousand t of steel, 47 thousand and 400 t of aluminum, 4 million and 48 thousand t of paper, 1 million and 873 thousand t of wood, 1 million and 76 thousand t of plastic, 2 million and 143 thousand of glass have found a second life.

If we add to the numbers of recycling those of energy recovery, the total amount of packaging removed from the landfill grows and approaches 84% (83.7%). A total of almost 11 million tons.

The Green Jobs were designed by the Consorzio Nazionale Imballaggi to promote - through training activities on the territory - the growth of skills and sensitivity in the green economy sector that, according to a 2018 study by Ambiente Italia, today employs more than 575 thousand people.

After the paths made between 2019 and 2020 at the University of Basilicata, in 2021 the

Green Jobs arrived in Calabria, at the University of Mediterranea Studies of Reggio Calabria, and in Sicily, at the University of Palermo. To date, it is estimated that they have trained more than 300 young people.

In 2022, the training project is ready to land in Campania, which will thus be the fourth region reached.

Some Conai initiatives, put into the field in 2021, “tell” sustainability from different points of view. Among these, the first in order of time was the Workshop “Materials Matter”, organized with the School of Design of the Polytechnic of Milan together with POLI.design, where the students were asked to deal with the themes of environmental sustainability, mixing design and circular economy.

A path that led them to generate design ideas capable of embodying the values and messages of respect for the resources of our planet.

In June, Conai’s social channels launched “A word from the Mayors”, a web series of video interviews with eight of Italy’s first citizens. Eight passionate and lucid accounts that brought out the efforts and prospects, critical issues to be overcome and secrets of the success of eight municipalities. Cities capable, each in its own way, to discover virtuous in separate collection and waste management, finding new solutions to coexist the needs of the territory with those of sustainability, thanks to a solid and constructive relationship with the consortium system.