Genova, 27February, 2015 – a real help to local authorities affected by the flooding of last autumn. This is the contribution made by CONAI, National Packaging Consortium, with the purchase of equipment for the collection of separated waste to replace what was lost last October as a result of severe weather. In particular, 1135 containers were purchased, both street bins and small to medium-sized containers to be delivered to waste management collection services, Amiu Genova and Gestione Management. Both companies actively cooperated in the assessment of damage and will see to the placement of the new equipment in the various municipalities affected. In detail, 800 containers were donated to the Municipality of Chiavari, 237 containers to Genoa and Busalla, 45 containers at the Municipal Partnership of Stura Orba and Leira, and 53 containers to the Municipalities of Valle Scrivia, Savignone, Montoggio and Torriglia. “As has already been the case in similar, dramatic events, CONAI expressed its solidarity and support to the municipalities affected by the emergency, in this case due to the October flooding,” said Luca Piatto, Head of Regional Relations for CONAI. ““The provision of new equipment for separate waste collection facilitates the return to a normal in waste management, allows municipalities to resume the service of separate collection of packaging materials and its delivery to the Conai-Consortium system, which then send it for recycling“. Thanks to the replacement of containers and bins, the local population in the 12 municipalities involved in the initiative will be able to continue to separate urban waste in a correct and effective manner, for the realisation of quality separate waste collection , the objective that CONAI has been promoting for years to ensure higher levels of recycling of packaging waste. “It’s a beautiful gesture to the communities affected by the flooding who also had the problem of quickly replacing the equipment needed for separate waste collection”, commented Raffaella Paita, Regional Councillor for the Environment. “My sincere appreciation goes to CONAI for an initiative that benefits a regional policy to increase separate waste collection, inland as well.” In 2013, the region of Liguria supplied the Consortium with 72,519 tons of packaging waste as part of the ANCI-CONAI framework agreement, equal to 59kg per inhabitant. Separate waste collection levels, while increasing by 3.3% over the previous year, still have ample room for growth, considering that per capita average of 83kg achieved by the northern regions. The development of separate waste collection should trend more and more towards the collection of higher quality materials to be delivered to the consortium system: in 2013, thanks to ANCI-CONAI Agreement, Ligurian municipalities received almost 7 million Euros to cover the higher costs for the separate collection of packaging waste. The agreement also expects higher economic considerations for the higher quality collections. The Consortium has, for 16 years, supported local institutions for the development of quality separate waste collection and the recycling of steel, aluminium, paper, wood, plastic and glass packaging waste, with specific tools and resources for regions lagging behind in waste management. The new ANCI-CONAI Agreement, valid until 2019, has increased that commitment with an allocation of 5 million Euros per year. Nationally, CONAI and the consortia in the sector guarantee that all packaging waste sourced from separate collection and delivered to them will be sent for recycling.