Miele (Ferrarelle Società Benefit): “An accelerator of sustainability in which recycling is increasingly central”

“We believe that the right approach is a constant increase in recycling combined with a savings logic, and these are issues in which Ferrarelle has been investing in R&D for some time, for the development of new materials and solutions that today make it possible to have a completely recycled bottle in PET”.

Ferrarelle Società Benefit has a privileged standpoint, having been active for years with business policies strongly oriented to sustainability. The company, a leader in the beverages market, has long been attentive to green issues, testified by its adherence to the BCorp model and the management of the recycling chain of its own bottles through a subsidiary. A wide-ranging industrial experience therefore emerges from the observations of Cristina Miele, administration and finance director and benefit corporation manager, who looks favourably at a regulation that pushes towards green solutions, while maintaining the centrality of recycling in which Italy is a leader in Europe.

«As Ferrarelle Società Benefit, we are in favour of an ever-greater commitment of the European Commission in promoting a circular economy with regards to the question of packaging - Cristina Miele underlines – as well as the objective of a more harmonised legislative framework throughout Europe, this also being in line with our commitments as a Benefit Corporation in relation to the sustainability of packaging. The prohibition of plastic disposable packaging and the implementation of a returnable bottles system is a bold but necessary move to reduce pollution and promote more responsible consumption practices.

The long-term objectives reinforced by the regulation are very ambitious and as CFO, I believe that they can be achieved in our country only through a coherent tax relief plan, which pushes in the same direction, supporting choices with significant economic impact, and industry 5.0 could introduce a specific focus area in this sense.

We believe that the right approach is a constant increase in recycling combined with a savings logic, and these are issues in which Ferrarelle has been investing in R&D for some time, for the development of new materials and solutions that today make it possible to have a completely recycled bottle in PET.

Effective and scalable collection of packaging is a fundamental prerequisite so that manufacturers can meet their recycled content goals set out in EU regulations. The strategy could work, but only if we are able to guarantee the maintenance of profitability for companies as a prerequisite for adequate employment levels. Environmental sustainability cannot ignore social sustainability, starting from the economic situation during a period of change. “