There are 1,641,938 tons of wood collected and sent for recycling in 2023 by the Rilegno system, of which 46.10% consists of packaging. The recycling percentage reaches 64.92% compared to that released for consumption, which was 3.3 million tonnes, and remains well above the objective of 30% by 2030 also reiterated by the new European Regulation (Ppwr ). The reuse sector is still growing with 909,210 tonnes of pallets regenerated and put back for consumption, practically over 70 million pieces. The regeneration and reuse of wooden packaging has always been considered a strategic activity by Rilegno and is a widespread practice among the consortium companies. At a territorial level, in reuse, Lombardy leads the way with 264,860 tonnes (29% of the total), followed by Piedmont with 133,754, Veneto with 110,849, Emilia Romagna with 108,883 and Tuscany with 101,364. These, in summary, are the main results that emerge from the Report on the activity carried out by Rilegno in 2023 approved by the Annual Assembly held in Cesenatico, where the Consortium has its operational headquarters.
Rilegno guarantees the recycling and recovery of wooden packaging throughout Italy and manages a supply chain based on 1,957 consortium members, 384 collection platforms spread across the territory and 16 recycling plants. An efficient management of wood recycling which represents not only a commitment to an increasingly sustainable world, but also an economic resource, giving life to a true circular economy important for the country. In fact, recycling allows wood to undertake a new life cycle, generating new material and therefore new products. 95% of recycled wood material is used to create chipboard panels, the lifeblood of the furniture industry, and other products such as pallet blocks, wood-cement blocks for construction, biofilters, wood pulp for paper mills and compost.
A system that generates an economic impact estimated at approximately 3.1 billion euros, over 10 thousand jobs and a “saving” in CO2 emissions equal to 1.8 million tons.
“The Consortium confirms excellent results also in 2023”, comments the president Nicola Semeraro, “the data to underline is that of reuse, on which Rilegno has always focused, which has grown to exceed 900 thousand tons. This very important result, achieved in a market as large as the Italian one, which is second only to the German one, has a decisive impact in relation to what is released for consumption with positive consequences at an environmental and economic level”.
“2023 – comments Semeraro – was the year of the proposal for the new European regulation on packaging, which sets ambitious objectives to be achieved which require adequate economic means to support. The EU sustainability path introduces useful but stringent rules, however environmental sustainability is a good that concerns the community and for this reason it is noble and must be pursued at any cost”.
“One point that I believe is worth paying attention to is that wood, despite being a material that grows in nature, is not considered a compostable material in the current legislation, for the purposes of separate waste collection. An intervention in the European EN regulation of reference that defines wood as a compostable material, as an organic material par excellence”, concludes Semeraro.
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