The Milan plastic free initiative gets under way: retailers are invited to give up disposable plastic plates, cups and cutlery. Starting with the Isola and Niguarda neighbourhoods.
"Lassa pur ch'el mond el disa, ma Milan l'è on gran Milan", goes the 1939 song by Giovanni D'Anzi and Alfredo Bracchi. How could one disagree: the Madonnina gleaming in the clear skies of late February, the Naviglio Grande rippled by the paddles of the Canottieri San Cristoforo, the trams aged like fine wine, the children chasing butterflies in the Biblioteca degli alberi in the shadow of the city's most futuristic skyscrapers — all of it a joy for the eyes and the heart. And there's more: Milan is Italy's smartest city. By 2030, three million trees will be planted, a decision that even Oscar-winning actor and climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio praised. Now the city council has managed to surprise us again, launching the Milano plastic free project.
The project, presented on 25 February at Palazzo Marino, aims to raise awareness among retailers and restaurateurs so that they give up single-use plastic items: plates, cups, cutlery, straws, bags and bottles. The trial begins in the Isola and Niguarda neighbourhoods, starting with Via Borsieri, Via Tahon de Revel, Via Ornato and Via Graziano Imperatore. Around two hundred businesses are potentially involved, specifically "54 restaurants, bars and food-service establishments and 147 local shops".
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Anyone who wishes to, however, is free to take up the challenge: well-known venues such as Ostello bello and Santeria have already done so. The councillor for Productive Activities, Cristina Tajani, and the councillor for Mobility and the Environment, Marco Granelli, do not rule out the possibility of reducing the waste tax for traders who take part in the Milano plastic free campaign.
According to data provided by Amsa, the Lombard capital produces around 35,000 tonnes of plastic every year. The figure rises, worldwide, to more than 300 million tonnes, of which at least 8 million end up in the sea. For this reason, LifeGate launched the LifeGate PlasticLess initiative to install as many Seabin devices as possible in Italian ports — "rubbish bins" capable of sucking plastics and microplastics out of the water.
Our task is to make the Seabin's work easier by giving up single-use items. Major cities the size of Milan are trying to do just that — New York with its ban on polystyrene, Seattle with its ban on straws, San Francisco where plastic bottles are outlawed. And from 2021, all European Union countries will be required to do the same, because our planet, by now, has no more time to waste.
