The Conai campaign returns to teach people how to give different types of bags a second life

Conai – National Packaging Consortium has launched the new edition of “A bagful of things to do for the environment”, the awareness campaign to help citizens and consumers use, reuse and dispose of different types of bags correctly.

Launched in 2018, the initiative returns this year as well thanks to collaboration with Fida, Federdistribuzione, Confcommercio, Ancc Coop, Ancd Conad and other distribution organisations, with informational materials at points of sale and digital content accompanied by the hashtag #controglisprechi.

The message

The campaign’s message starts with a simple but fundamental distinction: not all bags are the same and they do not all have the same end of life.

Those made of compostable bioplastic and used for fruit, vegetables and other loose foods can be reused for the collection of household organic waste and disposed of together with food waste, according to the procedures established by the municipality where one lives. The same applies to bioplastic bags intended for carrying shopping.

Bags made of traditional plastic and designed to be reusable, on the other hand, must be reused for as long as they remain intact. When they break or can no longer be used, they must be placed in plastic recycling according to local instructions.

The comment

"The circular economy begins before the recycling plant", comments Fabio Costarella, Deputy General Director of Conai. "It also begins with the choice to reuse an object, with the ability to recognise a material and with the act of putting it in the right place. A circular system is built in everyday life. A bag is small, but errors multiplied by millions of uses are not. This is why informing people and making them aware of the correct behaviours is an integral part of our work: every material can be a new resource, but only if it is used correctly and then directed towards the correct end of life".

The campaign materials will be available at participating points of sale, with simple and immediate information to help consumers navigate materials, uses and disposal methods. Collaboration with the distribution sector, in fact, remains a central element of the initiative: bringing information to the place where the bag is chosen means trying to influence behaviour before addressing the waste itself.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.