#moNOuse EVENTS: organizing events without disposable materials

By project MINEV

Published on 18 July 2023

Italy

About this good practice

Reducing the environmental impacts associated with events has long been the focus of many municipalities in the Emilia-Romagna Region as well as an integral part of the regional planning goals regarding waste management and prevention. Despite the growing interest on the issue, the majority of initiatives aimed at “greening” the event industry is still focused downstream on the improvement of separate collection, and on material substitution (e.g. from single-use fossil-based plastic to single-use bio-based or biodegradable plastic, lined-cellulose, aluminium or “tetrapack” for packaged water), instead of systemic change.

The guidelines and, more broadly, the overarching initiative promoted by ANCI-ER (Manifesto #moNOuso), contributes to a “narrative change”, in line with the European regulatory framework, where, when it comes to single-use products, elimination of unnecessary products and implementation of reuse models, should always be the primary goal. The main stakeholders and beneficiaries of the initiative are therefore both Municipalities and event organisers, by providing both a “new lens” to deals with “green events” and the tools needed to trigger the transition (e.g. samples of technical specification, practical resolutions, etc). To foster shifting from intentions to actions, regional fundings are made available to municipalities through public tenders designed in collaboration between ANCI-ER and ATERSIR.

Resources needed

Tools were drafted by the circular economy manager with the supervision of a senior manager. Graphics and small editing were handled by the communication unit. In total around 100 hours of work were required, both for the guidelines and the "Manifesto", at an estimated cost of around €6,000.

Evidence of success

The event guidelines were developed as part of a broader initiative to tackle single-use, aimed at “changing the narrative” and encouraging the uptake and consolidation of reuse models. The #monouso Manifesto is the "political" pivot of the initiative that is gaining traction within and outside the ER Region. To date, 14 municipalities in 3 Italian Regions, formally approved the Manifesto and committed to its implementation.

Potential for learning or transfer

This initiative has a high potential of transferability. In every country, municipalities can play an important role in fostering the transition toward a new economic model that give priority to upstream innovative practices. The 5 principles of the #moNOuso Manifesto and the related Council Resolution Model (CRM) can be easily translated in other languages and used to build an international network of municipalities committed to foster reuse models and reducing waste from single-use products in the event industry and in other sectors. The CRM is a very valuable tool: it contextualises the 5 principles within the overarching international and European framework that call for bold ambitions in transforming the current unsustainable production and consumption models with specific emphasis on the urgency to overcome the current throw-away culture and business practices. Note that all the municipalities that have formally adopted the Manifesto in Italy, used the CRM provided by ANCI-ER.