Twist the cap and quench Europe's thirst

The immovable cap is European law from 3 July 2024, in Italy it has already been active for a year and a half. The measure approved in 2019 and now officially in force is often criticized on social media in a frankly absurd way: from those who get wet because they can't drink, to others who end up with the cap pressing on their nose. In reality, it would be enough to lift the plastic ring, rotate it and turn the cap downwards to not have any discomfort while gulping down "neck-first". Certain social demagogy must not make us overlook the importance of this rule, that is, to avoid the dispersion of one of the most common objects abandoned in the environment. The data on the collection of materials on the beaches before and after the application of the rule indicate a clear decrease in caps in the environment, both in Italy and in Holland and in other northern European countries. This is what researchers say, these are not social campaigns for electoral purposes. Little curiosity, here are the top ten objects most frequently found on Italian beaches: bottles and caps, cigarette butts, cotton buds, crisp packets and candy wrappers, sanitary towels, plastic bags, plastic cutlery and straws, drink lids and cups; balloons and related sticks; food containers, including those from fast food.

The first step is always to recognize the problem. Then history shows that in the end we manage to adapt to everything, especially if the choices are in favor of the environment. Therefore to our advantage. There are many episodes in the recent past in which everything seemed impossible and ecological choices were branded as absurd. It happened with cigarette butts, with the tabs torn and thrown on the ground from drink cans, with the famous plastic rings that joined six cans. All aspects that at first glance seem small, but have an enormous environmental impact. They were cultural transformations that someone today is trying to make us go back on. There have been many changes, some of which have put our habits to the test, such as separate waste collection. Yet, despite much resistance, at least in this area, Italy is the European champion: first in collection rate and circular economy.

A few more examples to focus on: non-biodegradable cotton buds banned at the beginning of 2019 because they prevented the purifiers from working. A move that has pushed more and more Italians to be careful with their purchases and to throw biodegradable and compostable ones in the organic waste, stopping the bad habit of throwing them in the toilet! Again: from 2011 to 2018, controversy raged over the farewell to plastic bags in Italian supermarkets, replaced by bioplastic bags, especially because customers were charged for them. Do you remember the controversy and protests? In reality, it was a pioneering choice in Europe, which favored the most common habit among families today of going shopping with a shopper brought from home. Just as it has become quite common, especially among young people, to carry a water bottle to avoid consuming plastic bottles. Certainly more can be done: based on the European SUP (Single use plastic) directive, we can say goodbye to certain single-use packaging, or replace plastic plates, cutlery and straws with biodegradable and compostable bioplastic. In supermarkets, you can already find only this type of product. We are gradually adapting, even if Italy received a warning from Brussels at the end of May 2024: infringement procedure for not having "fully and correctly" implemented the directive on single-use plastic. I wonder: why and for what hidden reasons is the government so reluctant to take action on the environment?

Adapting to the new bottle closures will not be that difficult. The cap will remain attached, while the hope is that the bad habit of dispersing bottles in the environment - Italy is still at the top of the world in terms of mineral water consumption! - will be overcome thanks to common sense, even though there is always someone who invites us not to care. Who knows what the enemies of the environment will invent against the latest European directive from last April that bans from next October 15 the sale of products that contain intentionally added microplastics, such as synthetic grass granules, scrubs and cosmetics, glitter for make-up or detergents? Be careful, the exemptions are broad to adapt and develop alternative products from 4 to 12 years. In the face of the reckless and punitive choices of the European green deal!


Carlo Degiacomi
NP August / September 2024