Trento to invest in less waste

by Eleonora Anello

Red reusable packages for meat, green reusable packages for fruit and vegetables and crates to help move and stock them in the supermarkets with little extra packaging. This is one of the main consolidated habits thanks to the "Spesa Leggera, acquista prodotti con meno imballaggi produrrai meno rifiuti"(Light expenditure, purchasing products with less packaging will produce less waste!) campaign entry in March 2010 and promoted by the City of Trento, to prevent the consumer from putting in their basket unnecessary packaging and containers, surplus that drives up the cost of purchased goods, and once opened goes straight into the garbage.

«The campaign is only part of the complex and multifaceted project that the city of Trento, a municipality of long-conscious waste management and always in line with the latest European standards, has decided to implement and ranging from policies to reduce production of waste at the source, by the increase of recycling through initiatives designed to stimulate and develop concrete actions and participation» said the deputy environmental councilor, Michelangelo Marchesi.

“Light expenditure” has made use of a standard communication plan: such as informational material and posters, shelf tags, separate cashiers, commercials broadcast within the stores; street billboards, woven bags and a branded “interactive map” of member stores, within the city.

But the operation that gave more effective results was the work on the mountain. The committee of directors have been making efforts to involve mass distribution in order to establish a working group, which has not yet been finalized. In that meeting the objective is being found difficult to overcome at the local level, due to the fact that the operators of major chains, although they have an attitude of responsibility, sensitivity and collaboration, may only apply a small amount of shares, and are able to influence the choices of multinational companies, for example, in the design of packaging, which overshadows the environmental aspect.

Despite all these limitations, 6 industrial groups have joined the protocol so far (Conad, Naturasia, Coop-Superstore, Sait, and Orvea ed Eurospesa). The 18 stores have pledged to take seven mandatory actions (provision of reusable or compostable bags, adoption of paper for packaging meats and cheese for a reduced impact, sale of products that can be refilled, returnable beverage containers, used batteries recycling programs and rechargeable batteries, the supplying to charities of food close to it expiration date) in addition to voluntary measures (a presence of products with a reduced weight of packaging or packaging made of recycled materials, sales or detergents and food products in bulk, the adoption of compostable bags and containers for counter products, and the sale of cloth diapers).

The administration is awaiting the first data set to be provided by stores. Meanwhile, the Province of Trento assessed the project and, realizing its validity, has decided to expand the participating areas. The City Council are aware that the next to be involved will be smaller, local producers.