The pandemic has forced citizens to rethink their habits and priorities and adopt different lifestyles. This sudden change, however, has not affected the attention and responsibility of citizens for separate collection, in particular that of paper and board.
During the pandemic, in fact, consumers’ attention has increased on issues such as sustainability, ecological transition and circular economy, as stated by Michele Bianchi, CEO of RDM Group and vice president of Comieco: «Citizens are increasingly respecting these issues since they consider paper and board as resources to be valued and not as waste to be disposed of. Unsurprisingly, large manufacturers of consumer goods are looking for sustainable solutions more than ever before».
According to Comieco data, in fact, despite the lockdown, the separate collection of paper and board has held up thanks to the increase in domestic collection: indeed, the new consumption modes and the growth of e-commerce and food delivery have generated a 22% increase in the quantity of paper and board packaging in the urban collection. This is a sign that citizens have not forgotten the importance of separate collection, nor its rules: on the contrary, 62.4% of Italians separated paper and board even more carefully during the pandemic (source: AstraRicerche).