NEW YORK, MARCH 30 – On the international day of the Zero Waste objective, Italy at the UN has shed the light on Capannori, the first certified ‘zero waste’ European city, whose community is, since 2007, committed to adopt good practices that have become worldwide spread models.
The Municipality located in the province of Lucca has obtained the European certification in compliance with the Zero Waste Cities standard of Mission Zero Academy (Miza) and the support of the non-profit organization Zero Waste Italy, earning the accreditation of 4 stars out of 5, the best result ever achieved by any certified municipality.
This important achievement shows that Capannori has not only been in line with European objectives but has been able to successfully involve the local community to facilitate the transition to zero waste.
The numbers of separate collection
In Capannori, already in 2021 the percentage of separate collection had reached 86.50% (the regional average is 62.12%); 4,100 tonnes of recycled paper contributed to save about 12,000 trees; 5,100 tonnes of kitchen waste turned into compost; 2,000 tonnes of collected glass converted into 4 million new wine bottles.
For the future, the municipal administration has set out to follow on the zero waste road with the adoption of a ‘Municipal Action Plan for circular economy by 2030’. Among the main points of the document we recall the increase to at least 95% of the share of municipal solid waste separately collected; a further reduction in the amount of waste per capita; the optimization of door-to-door collection of municipal waste, including the introduction of new services such as the collection of textile materials.
Not only, Italy is committed to advancing the Zero Waste goal at a national and global level, and “at the top of the EU rankings for the recycling of all municipal and special waste,” said Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gianluca Greco, recalling also the work of the International Cooperation, in particular in the Middle East, East Africa and North Africa through interventions that improve waste collection and strengthen the capacities of the local administrations. (@OnuItalia)
