bioplasticsMAGAZINE_0901

Event Review
Salone
saves
and CO 2
Salone Internazionale del Gusto in Turin, Italy, is a bi-yearly
‘slow-food’ event that calls upon chefs, winemakers, caterers,
journalists and experts to focus on biodiversity and
food education. Last year the Salone set itself a new challenge
which underlines the importance of environmental impact, energy
resources and CO2 emissions.
www.novamont.com
www.salonedelgusto.com
In accordance with its philosophy, Salone del Gusto 2008 (23-
27 October) was planned with a system-designed approach
built around new strategies allowing reduction in environmental
impact, promoting eco-sustainable lifestyles and patterns of
consumption. This includes sourcing energy supplies from local
renewable resources, facilitating waste disposal and reducing
environmental impact. In this option the resources are abundant,
seasonally renewable, easily obtainable, cost effective, and have
potential re-use as fertilisers.
The Salone put newly planned solutions in place to contain
carbon emissions, and then to achieve zero emissions by offsetting
carbon levels with planting of trees in a park on the banks of the
river Po in the Turin area, to be accompanied by other initiatives
aimed at protecting the river‘s biodiversity.
This project was developed with a system-designed view by
Slow Food, Piedmont Region, the Municipality of Turin, Industrial
Design-Turin Polytechnic, Fondazione Zeri, along with Novamont
and other partners.
Several areas of the event are involved in the project, such
as the furnishings (elimination of the carpeting, etc.), waste
production (a waste disposal method aiming at 50% separation)
and packaging (biodegradable carrier bags, glass packaging for
the Presidia, collection and recycling of PET bottles, upgrading
of steel packaging, etc.). Other areas include: the utensils for
eating food in the Terra Madre and Ideale cafeterias (Mater-
Bi® tableware sets), the logistics for transporting goods and the
delegates and visitors of Terra Madre (motor vehicles with reduced
environmental impact, incentives for using public transportation,
etc.), energy resources and CO2 emissions (obtaining energy from
local renewable sources, planting local trees in the fluvial park of
the river Po in the Turin area, etc.).
Novamont, a leading company in the bioplastics sector,
contributed to this new project thanks to its many years of
experience and the results it has obtained by designing new
systems that promote the role of bioplastics. The company is
10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4