SUSTAINABILITY: CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROJECT AT FIERA MILANO

Milan, 16 May 2023. Fiera Milano and CORIPET, a voluntary consortium, recognised by the Ministry of the Environment, between producers, converters and recyclers of PET bottles, have entered together, among the pavilions of the exhibition centre in Rho, a path to achieve better results in terms of sustainability and circular economy.

Fiera Milano and CORIPET are collaborating to encourage the recovery of PET plastic water bottles sold at the exhibition centre. At Fiera Milano there are, in fact, three eco-compactors dedicated to the collection of PET plastic via a controlled chain. Through a loyalty circuit dedicated to all those who drop off bottles in the eco-compactors, Fiera Milano and CORIPET involve the exhibition public in a project of great environmental impact, working to improve the most significant aspects of waste management at the exhibition centre. All the plastic collected in the eco-compactors is sent, in a controlled food chain, to the recovery plants of the PET circuit, for the production of second raw material (R-PET), which is then used for the production of new packaging for food use.

"Caring about the environment and the impact generated by its activities is a priority for Fiera Milano, and the Group's goal is to be a leading platform for sustainable events” says Andrea Maldi, CFO and Head of Sustainability at Fiera Milano Group. "In fact, exhibitions can leave a significant environmental footprint at each of their various stages, including exhibition stand construction, catering, dismantling and final waste management, which can also include plastics from water bottles that represent, together with paper, 18% of the total waste produced in the exhibition centre. Fiera Milano aims to reduce the environmental impact associated with the organisation and holding of events and exhibitions, encouraging the reduction of CO₂ emissions produced by exhibition activities, in line with the Group's wider commitment to join the international Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, which aims to reduce the emissions produced by 50% by 2030 and the total decarbonisation of events by 2050".

To this purpose, Fiera Milano has implemented a plan to make its exhibition centre a virtuous example in the sign of circular economy. The Group is working on social responsibility initiatives with the intention of proposing an increasingly sustainable district, including promoting the use of eco-compactors during exhibitions. In 2022, the exhibition centre in Rho recorded a total waste production of 7.105,139 tonnes, almost exclusively represented by 'non-hazardous waste' such as paper, plastic, mixed material packaging, wood packaging, unsorted waste, metal waste and bulky waste. Of the total waste produced in the exhibition centre, 97% is destined for waste recovery plants while 3% is destined for plants that perform disposal operations. Approximately 30% of the waste destined for recovery is sent to waste-to-energy plants and provides district heating for the district itself. 

“Fiera Milano has a very important role in promoting good practices and new ways to protect the environment, so the choice of joining the PET bottle recycling activity in the Rho exhibition centre is a source of great satisfaction for us" says Corrado Dentis, President of CORIPET. "We hope that this partnership goes in the right direction to facilitate the achievement of the targets set by the legislator with the SUP Directive, which foresee 77% collection for recycling by 2025. By behaving responsibly and making a small action, such as dropping off bottles in the eco-compactors made available by CORIPET, we are protecting the environment, the preservation of which is becoming increasingly central to our future”.

Finally, with the aim of making the more than 4 million visitors who come to the exhibition every year think about waste management, a few days ago a work of art by artist Scrivano Rosario was placed in the atrium of the Centro Servizi of the exhibition centre in Rho. It is a sculpture made of some 14,000 plastic bottles, representing a child holding the world in his arms.

"The work aims to raise awareness on the reduction of waste, particularly plastic waste" explains artist Rosario Scrivano. "It is a powerful social message aimed at contributing to a common commitment to one of the most serious problems of our society".