MILAN (ITALPRESS) – In 2023, CONAI generated a total turnover of more than 3 billion and 300 million euros in Italy. A figure that is the sum of three values: a direct turnover of 1 billion and 289 million euros, coming from the CONAI Environmental Contribution (CAC) and from revenues from the sale of materials; an indirect impact of 1 billion and 701 million euros, related to the activation of supply chains; and an induced impact of 346 million euros, deriving from the consumption of workers’ families and supplier companies. A turnover comparable to the value of the entire air passenger transport sector in Italy.Revenues from CAC alone amounted to 718 million euros: meaning that every euro of environmental contribution has a multiplier of 4.6 in terms of value generated for the Italian economy.This is the main figure that emerges from CONAI’s new Sustainability Report, which, as every year, quantifies the economic and environmental benefits of packaging recycling in Italy. “Every euro of contribution generates more than four and a half for the economy: it is now clear how the use of second-use material in place of virgin raw material has important repercussions on our economic system,” comments CONAI President Ignazio Capuano (pictured). Our commitment to sustainability is an institutional mandate, but it is also a vision about a future in which the planet’s resources are used more efficiently while protecting the environment. Therefore, for the first time, we have adopted a new calculation methodology to report on the value generated by proper packaging management: the benefits are both economic and environmental. This is certified by a new study conducted by The European House – Ambrosetti, a preview of which we presented at Ecomondo and which we now include in its entirety in the Report. “The actual contribution of the CONAI system to the national GDP, that is, the added value generated, on the other hand, amounted to 1 billion 924 million euros.Finally, the employment impact: in 2023 the system supported a total of 23.199 jobs, including direct employment (workers employed continuously in the facilities and processes managed directly by the Consortium), indirect employment (thanks to the activation of related supply chains) and induced employment (which essentially concerns the waste management, industrial manufacturing and transportation sectors).11 million 724,000 tons is the amount of virgin material that, at the national level, was avoided to be extracted and used thanks to packaging recycling in 2023. They are equal to the weight of 800 towers of Pisa.Recycling is also confirmed to be an important actor against the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, to combat climate change. And the CONAI Sustainability Report shows how more than 10 million tons of CO2eq were avoided in 2023 thanks to recycling. That is equal to the emissions generated by more than 8,000 flights around the world.A figure that represents the balance between the avoided production of greenhouse gases thanks to the avoided production of primary material and the emission of greenhouse gases for only the operations of preparation for recycling of already used packaging, i.e., transport and treatment to transform the packaging waste into new raw material.The contribution of Italian companies to the proper management of the end-of-life of packaging also takes the form of a saving of primary energy, i.e., the energy generated from fossil sources that would be necessary for the production of all the primary material saved. A figure that, just as of this year, has been refined by introducing into the calculation the primary energy consumption related to the operations of preparation for recycling and transport of packaging waste.In 2023, an estimated 50 terawatt-hours will be saved, which is equivalent to the annual domestic consumption of half of Italian households.”For years, the Report has been an important vehicle for a documented approach to the issue of environmental protection, based on numbers and results as well as concrete prospects for improvement,” says CONAI General Manager Simona Fontana. “Sharing it represents a moment of transparency that proves how much the Consortium’s work can and, above all, wants to be measured and measurable, with a view to synergistic sharing among all the actors and stakeholders in the supply chain. But it is a document that goes beyond measuring results and testifies to a deeper commitment: spreading an environmental culture that permeates the social fabric remains an essential part of the tasks assigned to us.”
– Conai press office photo -(ITALPRESS).
