Tondo looks to the future and to the next appointment with Re-Think on the world of Circular Economy, which will take place on May 12, 2020 at La Triennale di Milano. We will talk about Cities, Materials and Technologies. The goal is to further expand the ecosystem by promoting innovation and entrepreneurship within the Circular Economy through research, planning, experimentation and networking.
Meanwhile, in the Genoa event, the topics of clean energy from wave motion, the total recycling of materials used for the fishing industry, from nets to food waste, of new sustainable polymers for boats and prototypes were deepened. The goal was to spread the culture of a sustainable economic model that will replace the linear economy in the near future, the main cause of damage to the global ecosystem.
“We need to focus on a new paradigm, both in the institutional and business environment – explains the President of the Tondo association that deals with Circular Economy and creator of the format of events on the Re-think theme, Francesco Castellano – the idea of Tondo and the The need to communicate and spread the culture of Circular Economy started from a beach, a place where I loved to go: over time, the waste from the sea and thrown on the shoreline has disfigured it. Plastics and debris created by man are the testimony of a system that has failed, not having considered its devastating environmental impact. “
The main thematic areas discussed in Genoa were: marine energy, which has a vast energy potential but has not yet found scalable technological solutions; the bioeconomy and materials, since the activities related to the marine bioeconomy combined with biotechnology could offer interesting solutions, substituting synthetic materials; circular boats, because even the materials used for boats could be rethought, using new fibers that could replace difficult-to-recycle materials; the materials reused, because inside the seas it is now possible to find huge quantities of synthetic waste that could be recovered and reused also generating profits for companies that decide to operate in this area.
“Climate change and the rise of the sea are two closely connected phenomena – explains Gianmaria Sannino, Senior Researcher of ENEA – The oceans, in fact, absorb heat by expanding exclusively on the surface. The sea should be exploited as an intelligent energy source, since its potential is very high “.
In addition to the theme of global warming, a topic of great relevance is that of plastic and microplastics found at sea. The packaging sector uses 40% of all the plastic produced in the world. Being this, the most pervasive, this plastic is the one that is most easily dispersed in the environment and then ends up at sea, fragmenting into microplastics and becoming food for fish, the same ones we eat.
According to Giovanni Perotto, Senior Researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the solution would be to: “Designate materials programmed to disappear, using materials that would currently be thrown away”. The goal of his research within the IIT smart materials laboratory is to design new ways to use the waste from the food chain to develop a new generation of materials that will have various applications from technology, to bioengineering, to packaging. .
The Circular Economy is the solution to these and other problems that emerged during Re-think, implementing innovative and circular solutions.
“Implementing circular models involves a sort of revolution in linear Business – comments Katiuscia Terrazzani, Managing Director of Ayming Italia, a consultancy multinational expert in subsidies for those investing in Research and Development – With Horizon 2020, the framework program with which the Union Europea has promoted research, innovation and competitiveness, a path has started to provide financial instruments to support projects on Circular Economy, Renewable Energies and Blue growth, long-term strategies to support sustainable growth in the marine environment . Goals that will be strengthened in Horizon Europe”.
