Towards a #PlasticFree Italy: here’s who said goodbye to plastic
It was 1861 when Alexander Parkes, developing studies on cellulose nitrate, patented the first semi-synthetic plastic material, named parkesine. In 1907 the Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland obtained the first thermosetting resin of synthetic origin by condensation between phenol and formaldehyde, which he patented in 1910 under the name of bakelite.
In 1912 a German chemist, Fritz Klatte, discovered the process for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which many years later would have great industrial developments.
In 1913, it was the turn of the first flexible, transparent and waterproof material that immediately found application in the field of packaging: Jacques Edwin Brandenberger invented cellophane.
In 1938, nylon, the synthetic fiber used for textiles, was born in America. In 1954 the Italian Giulio Natta created moplen, the plastic still used today in the food industry.
Today, plastic, a practical, cheap and versatile material, is considered an enemy of the environment, especially if it ends up in the sea. In fact, 2018 can be considered the year of the fight against plastic that “pollutes the seas of Europe and the world“. The European Union has already taken significant measures by putting in place a strategy to combat packaging and encouraging the production of less polluting and more sustainable materials.
Italy has also taken action. From 4 October, in fact, the Ministry of the Environment will be entirely #plasticfree. Environment Minister Sergio Costa announced: “A week of changes begins in what for me is the Casa di Tutti: the installation of water pantries on tap, the replacement of products inside the dispensers. And it is a great little revolution that does not only concern the Ministry. If that were the case, it would be very limited. We promised it right away, from day one, and here we are: on October 4th, the Ministry of the Environment becomes #plasticfree! Since we launched the challenge, and it was on June 5th, during the International Environment Day, we have received hundreds of signatures: municipalities, regions, universities, prefectures, associations, supermarket chains, small islands… A wave that is also spreading in the homes of each of you. Please keep telling us about your transformation #plasticfree both here and on Twitter by tagging me“.
And then again: “At the same time, we are working on two major laws to reduce single-use plastics and packaging. One will be ready within a couple of weeks and we would like to call it SalvAmare and in fact anticipates the European directive against single-use plastics. The other provides incentives both for entrepreneurs who choose to reduce packaging and for consumers who will fill their carts with more sustainable products, and for this we have already found the funds. We need the help of everyone, of each one of us, at all levels, because the environment has no colors and no political fences“.
I have just learned that the city council of #Fiumicino unanimously approved the motion #plasticfree. It is an important message because it shows that in front of #buonepratiche there are no colors and fences. I call on all municipalities in Italy to get rid of single-use plastics
— Sergio Costa (@SergioCosta_min) September 26, 2018
Immediately aligning with the #plasticfree “concept” is a city in the center of Europe and always ready for change: Milan. “The Municipality must lead by example“, the message is clear. This is the content of an agenda presented to the Mobility and Green Committee which invites the mayor and the Council to “implement awareness-raising methods in large retailers and commercial establishments to eliminate the use of disposable plastic trays and to implement a program to ban their use in the city in favor of biodegradable packaging“, as well as “initiate all the necessary actions to undertake an ethical and re-education path to respect and protect the environment, with the primary objective of eliminating the presence of disposable plastic within the Municipality and achieving the status of plastic-free municipality“.
The proposal came from the M5S councillor, Patrizia Bedori, and from the PD councillor and president of the commission, Carlo Monguzzi. On the awareness-raising front for commercial establishments, from the councillor of the civic list Beppe Sala Mayor, Franco D’Alfonso, comes the suggestion of developing a municipal guarantee stamp for businesses that should approach a more sensitive environmental policy, including the issue of disposable plastic, as well as reasoning on non-economic incentives, but related to waste disposal.
