ROME (ITALPRESS) – “The entire Italian recycling chain – which is not just mineral oil – is particularly brilliant, it has results that are certainly above the European average, but Italians do not know this. In our own small way we try to communicate on this issue, because at the origin of this Italian excellence there is also our mentality as a resource-poor country.” In addition, “the recycling industry is new, the plants and technologies are new, and the authorization system is based on the provinces and regional provincial ERAs: the dialogue with provincial administrations that give authorizations sometimes can be difficult, I think the central know-how hub should give great support to local authorities, otherwise we risk anomalies and inequalities.” This was said by Riccardo Piunti, president of the National Consortium of Used Oils (Conou), interviewed by Claudio Brachino for the Primo Piano column of the Italpress news agency.Conou is “a small miracle of cooperation born 40 years ago, addressed by a law that asked oil companies to recover lubricating oil once it is no longer needed. Today we collect 100 percent of used oil from 103,000 places including workshops, garages and factories in Italy, free of charge, and give it a new life,” Piunti explained. In one year, “with about 600 collection vehicles we collect 190 thousand tons of used mineral oil. “The issue of the environment “is becoming more and more stringent, there are countries where the situation is really disastrous that have to set up a way” to remedy: we received delegations of oil companies from Saudi Arabia, India and Turkey.” In the past, “companies or countries would consult us on our ways to regenerate oil: this time, the tenor of the questions centered on the model. How do you implement this system without having to put a policeman in each of the 103,000 places? We don’t even have one: we have standards, including ethical standards, that our harvesters must meet,” plus “you have to converge economic interest with environmental interest, using the consortium’s resources to encourage their behavior. “On the other hand, there are countries interested in buying Italian companies. “European companies are coming to shop with us, some of our companies have been bought by foreign waste groups,” he explained.Conou will be among the protagonists at Ecomondo, the benchmark event in Europe and the Mediterranean basin for ecological transition and new models of circular economy, scheduled for Nov. 5-8 in Rimini. “At our booth we will hold three short seminars on three topics: cybersecurity, the sustainability of lubricants and the famous PFAS, a topic we care a lot about: we believe it is a battle to be carried on, even Europe is getting busy to ban as much as possible the use of these substances that are a threat to the species because they attack the reproductive system. In addition, because they are indestructible, they accumulate in water and the environment. “On some issues, such as this, “Europe is very much leading the way,” but in some cases “it is also going ahead by making mistakes: years ago, Europe was going to set a minimum regeneration limit of 85 percent, which would have been easy for us to achieve since we are at 98 percent, but it didn’t because in Europe at the moment used oil is burned and there is a lot of interest in continuing this way. “Conou has also achieved a certification for gender equality. “Reflecting on the corporate system with respect to gender equality means digging into a mine that the past has accumulated, where there is a lot of good stuff,” he concluded.
– photo xi2/Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
