MILAN – 10 plants involved and several custom bins located at the foot of ski slopes or near refuges. There is only one main goal: to raise the awareness of skiers of the value of PET (the plastic that bottles are made of) and the importance of recycling it. Started on the 7th of December 2015 “Levissima Snow Recycling – I make a difference”, the first recycling campaign on the snow that invites all lovers of the mountains not to leave plastic on ski slopes but to throw it in the appropriate bins, to not pollute the environment but to transform it into a resource: recycled PET. A Levissima initiative in its third edition this year, involving not only the Valtellina, the source of this mineral water but also the regions of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, in partnership with the three urban sanitation companies that operate in the areas concerned, Quendoz in the Aosta Valley, Acsel in the Susa Valley in Piedmont and Secam in Valtellina in the province of Sondrio.
The value of PET
It is 100% recycled, lightweight, unbreakable and perfectly safe; the ideal material to preserve the unique and distinctive characteristics of mineral water, ensuring very high standards of quality. In addition, if properly recycled, PET can be transformed into something else, as shown in the graphics on the bins and the campaign posters. “A pile blanket can be made from 20 bottles and a pile sweater from 27 bottles.” These equivalents will help skiers to easily understand how their used bottle is not simply ‘waste’, but raw material to create something new.
The commitment of Sanpellegrino
“As a Group Sanpellegrino strongly believes in the importance of recycling and we value PET throughout its life cycle,” says Stefano Marini, Business Unit Director Gruppo Sanpellegrino – “from precious container to keep our mineral water unchanged, to its revival as a new object after having been recycled. This activity is, therefore, part of a continuous effort to raise awareness among the public of the proper recycling of plastic, even when they are relaxing and having fun at more than 2,000 metres of altitude. In fact, we believe, as one of the main players on the Italian market, that it is crucial to make the consequences of individual everyday actions on the surrounding environment evident, humanity’s most important resource.”
The campaign on the ski slopes
Ski-lifts and refuge operators of the area involved, collect the bags from the plastic collection points located on the ski slopes and in dining areas and take them to where Secam, Quendoz and Acsel collect the raw material and the recycling process begins. The campaign has the collaboration and important patronage of local institutions, such as the town of Ayas (AO), the Piedmont Region, the Metropolitan City of Turin, the Lombardy Region and the Province of Sondrio, in addition to the Ministry of the Environment; an important synergy with Levissima’s commitment to safeguard the natural heritage of these mountains and their unspoiled nature.
by editorial staff
