Sustainable Consumption and Production

MARINO MELISSANO MARINO MELISSANO

marinomelissano@hotmail.commarinomelissano@hotmail.com

1010thth PERL International Conference PERL International Conference

UNESCO, ParisUNESCO, Paris

10-11 March 2015 10-11 March 2015

GREEN

Since some years we abuse the adjective:“green”: green economy, green consumption, green chemistry, green technology”...

Why?Because the green gives the image of the clean environment? Because the consumer has become more sensitive to a turnaround? Because the production word nosed business?A quarter of European companies investing in green technology. Theworld market of

goods and services to low-carbon is estimated at 4,2 trillion €.

Yet, since it was launched the green message, our life has not improved, because it has not improved our lifestyle.

The green is not always synonymous with biocompatibility: the polyethylene produced in Brasil from bioethanol, is certified green, but not biodegrade naturally and polluter; we can produce PVC from raw sugar, but will have an impact on the environment.

GREEN CHEMISTRY

"Green Chemistry", conceived already twenty years ago by chemist Paul Anastas (now director of 'EPA), has three strict rules:

- Use ingredients and environmentally friendly raw materials,

- Combat waste,

- Reduce energy costs

With the discovery:

- biodegradable plastics (produced in accordance with the European standard EN 13432);

- products for green building (bio bricks, glass wool, wood fiber certified PEFC);

- - tanning ecological ("white tanning, which uses organic substances instead of chromium);

nanomaterials (such as graphene, graphite sheets with a thickness of one atom, stronger than steel);

- ionic liquids;

- adhesives to cardanol, extracted from cashew nut shell;

- bioplastic derived from corn starch (Mater-Bi of Novamont, which formed in 2011 a joint venture with Eni to achieve a green polo petrochemical site in Porto Torres, worth € 500 million)…

... A new era has begun: the search of the green product equivalent to the traditional:

  the era of eco-sustainability, which can influence the change of life style of the people.

GREEN AIRPLANES

In 2011 they became a reality even the "green aircraft", powered by biofuels: Lufthansa, on Frankfurt-Hamburg route uses a mixture half of kerosene and the other half derivatives of esters and hydrolactates fatty acids; KLM employs a product derived from used cooking oil, which cut 30% of greenhouse gases (gas serra).

The same year they made the first transatlantic flights with biocherosene: a "green fuel" obtained from the camelina, plant in spontaneous germination. The aim of IATA is to replace by 2020 50% of kerosene and get to zero emissions within 50 years.

GREEN PACKAGING

Innovative packaging, recyclable, biodegradable, in contrast to disposables. Already the Pet was a big invention: recovered, cleaned, reprocessed into granules and shuffled to new Pet is ready to give birth to other bottles or ... T-shirts pile. Today, however, we arrived to “EasyPet”, that offsets the CO2 emissions and to "biobottle", derived from the fermentation of vegetable starch.

GREEN RECYCLING

- The "Pro-Plasmix" project, from Pont-Tech company in Pontedera (PI), aims to recycle plastics poor (detergent bottles, bags) to make industrial items such as cases and footboards scooters, already used by Piaggio.

- The project Micromidas, homonymous American company, wants to build a biopolymer from wastewater.

Thus, the absolute enemy of environmentalists, today is living a second life.

In this “green chaos”, finally green products have a definition:

In the EC Communication to Parliament and the Council (COM 2013-196) of 09.04.2013, states that "green products can be defined as the most efficient as use of resources and less harmful to the environment in their entire life cycle, from raw material extraction, to production, to distribution, to use, until the end of the life cycle (including reuse, recycling and recovery), compared to other similar products in the same category ".

But if a definition was found, for his scientific accreditation, it occurs have an official method for measuring and benchmarking of environmental performance of products: all the methods currently employed are in progress and are proving to be heterogeneous, that is, different methodologies give different results even if applied to the same product and the results obtained with the same method are often not comparable.

GREEN PRODUCTS

For businesses green products can help reduce production costs (less resource-less costs);

for consumers they can reduce the costs of use (less consumption of electrical appliances more efficient ...).

Green products are easier to recycle and reuse, thus helping to reduce the cost of waste management.

But, in relative terms, green products represent a marginal share (max 5%) of consumer goods in the EU market.

Yet there is an untapped potential for development, which would have positive effects on employment (up to 2.8 million jobs in more than 2020) .

THE CARBON FOOTPRINT

You can calculate how much costs each product in terms of energy, both for its production, which for its packaging, which for its transportation, as well as costs to the environment in terms of carbon dioxide emitted.

To calculate the energy consumption, this is converted to tons of CO2 equivalent and it performs the calculation considering the amount of forested land necessary to absorb them.

THE EC ANSWER

The EC has been working to develop a harmonized method for the calculation of the environmental footprint of products and, after testing the methods of 10 products (construction, chemicals, ICT, food, Manufacturing industry, footwear, Television, card), defined 2 methodologies to measure:- the environmental footprint of products (PEF) and - the organizations (OEF) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/product_footprint.htmIt’s introduced:- a list of the categories of environmental impact (climate change; reduction of ozone; toxicity to humans; eutrophication; ecotoxicit;, resource depletion);- the obligation to assess data quality with the introduction of minimum standards;- an instruction techniques manual to address some critical aspects of the LCA.For example, wanting to develop specific standards for detergents, the rules of category define a "model product", establishing the environmental performance of its life cycle, which will become the benchmarks on which to measure the performance of other real detergents sold on the market. Those benefits will be communicated to the consumer in a simple and immediately understandable, so that, at the time of shopping, can make informed comparisons.This new strategy will be experienced by the EC until 2016.

LIFESTYLE“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself” (Tolstoj)

If we really want to change the world; if we are to reverse the trend to pollution;if we want future generations to live in an ecoenvironment cleaner and more respectful of the rights of others; if we want a more balanced economy, that changes the concepts of profit and work and better distributed resources,if we want the rights of consumers are the key point of all industrial and social policy;WE MUST CHANGE OURSELVES, WE HAVE TO INTERPRET

A NEW ROLE, we must take NEW RESPONSIBILITIES.The younger generation must be guided towards a commitment to become aware of the need to adopt new lifestyles and be themselves promoters and vehicle for change.

FROM THE AGENDA 21 TO SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION

Agenda 21 (literally: things to do in the 21st sec.- ONU program on sustainable development) One of the four chapters is:practical implementation of the decisions agreed (environmental education programs, sustainable technology transfer from one country to another).This document has assumed that education is important to achieving sustainable development and it need to integrate the principles of sustainability into education systems at all levels as a fundamental key to the change. The Implementation Plan refers to education throughout life and focuses not only on formal education, but also informal, through which all members of society can have a variety of opportunities for continuous learning.The United Nations has opened a new phase of work that engages all countries to strengthen and boost the integration of education policies for sustainable development.Training processes for introducing the principles of sustainability within organizations and communities (schools, workplaces, sports and leisure, etc.). Can give, also, a great contribution to the definition of new lifestyles that do not compromise, as has happened in the past, the levels of acquisition achieved through the processes of learning in schools. Similarly, it is necessary that the school system as a whole (primary, secondary, university, high specialization) suggests that within the curricula and profiles of study the principles of sustainability, without making it the subject of a separate discipline of study.

IS THE CITYZEN READY?

Many surveys show that consumers in the EU would be likely to buy a greater amount of green products (Eurobarometer data), but also show the existence of a gap between their intentions and their behavior, especially for a lack of confidence. 75% of EU citizens is prepared to buy green products, but only 17% had actually done during the two months preceding the survey.

European consumers do not trust the environmental information provided by manufacturers and retailers in the form of self-declaration (48%); are not convinced that green products, difficult to find affordable, actually constitute the recipe for the salvation of the planet.

Moreover, given the lack of comparison of environmental performance, the ability to make informed choices still is automatically limited.

THE INQUIRY ON RESPONSABLE CONSUMPTION OF ALTROCONSUMO

The extent to which consumers take into account the social and environmental behavior of companies when they have to buy a product?

Whom they give confidence to find information about products more equitable and sustainable? They are two of the questions from which was the starting the investigation of Altroconsumo on ethical consumption, which involved more than three thousand consumers. To questionnaire answered a sample of the population stratified by age, gender, and region. Besides Italy, the survey took place in Belgium, Brazil and Spain.It’s resulted: 70% of Italians did an ethical consumption; 16% said they did not have purchased an environmentally friendly product and 30% not having bought a product fair. Better to reduce the amount and avoid waste. For responsible consumers it is clear that the act of purchase is not just a private matter, but also public: choosing, in fact, you issue a judgment on the manufacturer, you support good practice and condemn the bad. 71% of respondents believe that their consumption choices can influence the behavior of companies. In the perception of respondents large companies and corporations have social behavior and environmental worse than smaller producers. Which channels using the consumers for their responsible choices? The products with low environmental impact are mainly bought in supermarkets and in only one case of three in specialty stores; the products of fair trade are purchased (9% very often) in these stores from 4/5 of consumers, but 10% of respondents do not knows a fair trade product (brand: altromercato, fairtrade, Solidal coop, fair globe, rainforest alliance, ecolabel, FSC and PEFC). The most reliable sources of information on the social and environmental behavior of companies are given for the 76% by NGOs, and 73% by consumer associations. Consumers socially responsible: eat fish caught with less impact on the marine ecosystem (from 14.12.14 we also know the tools used for fishing); buy ecosolidal products, fruits and vegetables organic or otherwise Km0; know the eco-labels and fair trade; using alternative energy sources; have a current account in ethical banks; buy unpackaged products or packaging minimized and fully recyclable; prefer the bicycle; looking for green hotels (like the Milan Scala in Milan) and restaurants Km 0; are fanatics of "differentiated".

DOING MORE WITH LESS

has now become the main challenge for both producers and consumers: consumers can make a difference with their choices. 78% of the environmental impact is due to the materials of the packaging. The European Eco-label identifies products and services that have a lesser impact on the environment during their life cycle. Although the EU has introduced a number of process to ensure a sustainable growth and consumption: in 2011 was launched the "Roadmap to efficient Europe", which suggests the ways in which disaggregate economic growth from resource use and its environmental impact. The action plan for eco-innovation is mainly linked to the "Innovation Union" of Europe 2020 strategy: it aims to expand the focus of innovation policies towards green technologies and eco-innovation, and to emphasize the role of environmental policy as a factor for economic growth.

LESS IS MORELESS IS MOREis the slogan adopted recently in a campaign to educate to decrease consumption and waste: 32 million tons of waste, that is, each of us

produces about 550 kg of waste every year, and of these 42% are landfill, a quarter are packaging; must, therefore, learn to buy the

necessary and choose unpackaged products or with optimal packaging, minimal and perfectly recyclable:no to disposable

products (and their packaging are among the leading disposable) or mini-portions; no to multimaterial not differentiable.

So, the turnaround in the environmental field is not given only by the advent of green products, but even more by our behavior. And here again the question arises: are we truly ready to change our lifestyle? We are convinced that we need to give up something, that the era of unbridled consumerism is over?

As usual, we are the self-men, and as such the way is longer. It miss an environmental education, not only as a respect for Nature, as well as education to a better future, ecologically, economically and socially sustainable.

Environmental education is fundamental to pursue this historic transition toward a more sustainable world. It need integrate the principles of sustainability into education systems at all levels in Europe as a key fundamental for change.

HOW BECOME A SUSTAINABLE HOW BECOME A SUSTAINABLE CONSUMERCONSUMER

1) Buy less 2) Buy lightweight 3) Buy durable 4) Buy simple 5) Buy close 6) Buy healthy 7) Buy right 8) Buy prudent 9) Buy sincere 10) Invest in Justice

CONCLUSIONSCONCLUSIONS

The European Commission is regulating green products but, downstream of this process, it is necessary to form citizens, educate them to a lifestyle more environmentally friendly, more respectful of nature and of the other, more "frugal".

The consumer must first learn and then buy.

This is the real challenge in which each of us is called to make his contribution.

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTIONmarinomelissano@hotmail.com

marinomelissano@hotmail.com