H.E. Mr. Paolo Trichilo, Ambassador of Italy to Slovenia, spoke at the 4th Circular Change Conference about the importance of making the transition towards a circular economy and what neighboring countries can learn from each other.
The Ambassador presented data which, in his words, can serve as a source of inspiration for European countries, including the neighboring.
„In general terms, based on Eurostat data, Italy is the 1st country with the highest level of secondary raw materials and the 2nd European country for industrial recycling of non-hazardous waste, as well as the 2nd most efficient country in material consumption“, the Ambassador said.
He stressed that Italy uses 256.3 tonnes of materials for every million euros produced which puts it in second place for efficient materials consumption, after Great Britain which uses 223.4 tonnes of materials per million euros.
“Italy’s performance has improved since 2008, the country has halved its consumption of materials. Italy is second in terms of industrial recycling, sending 48.5 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste to be recycled. This level of recovery allows for savings on primary energy of over 17 million tonnes of petrol a year and reduces CO2 emissions by around 60 million tonnes, according to data from Ambiente Italia, the Italian institute focusing on environmental research”, Mr. Trichilo pointed out.
The Ambassador underlined good examples of circular economy cooperation between Italy and Slovenia.
“One is Aquafil. Another is the work being done in and with Novo Mesto municipality by Lucart and I have recently been there to witness the good results achieved so far. I also would like to mention the projects undertaken in the framework of the INTERREG Italy – Slovenia, such as RETRACKING, a project for the development of a management model competitive and compliant with EU regulations, for the recycling of waste from Fibre Reinforced Composites; BLUEGRASS that aims to introduce and develop aquaponics; a sustainable production technique that allows for vegetables to be produced with a reduction of water consumption of up to 90% and through the recycling of waste products from aquaculture practices“, said the Ambassador.
Source: Italian Embassy