(ANSA) - MILAN, DEC 20 - Seven hundred quintals of rice, equivalent to 780 thousand dishes, delivered to the Food Bank of Lombardy and Lazio: this is the new donation made by Nespresso on the occasion of December 20, International Day of Human Solidarity.
Concrete help for over 300,000 people in need, made possible thanks to 'From bean to bean', the Nespresso project for the recovery and recycling of aluminum coffee capsules.
Born in 2001 and now active in 73 Italian cities, the 'From grain to grain' project has reached over 4,000 quintals of rice donated for over 4 million dishes every year in 10 years to support 1,600 charitable structures. In December 2021, 475 quintals of rice, equal to 530 thousand dishes, coming from the compost made with exhausted coffee from Nespresso capsules were delivered to the Lombardy Food Bank while another 224 quintals, corresponding to 250 thousand dishes, also went to the Food Bank of Lazio.
With 'Da Chicco a Chicco', a coffee bean can be transformed into a rice grain for those who need it most, thanks to the collaboration between Nespresso, Cial, Utilitalia and Cic, the Italian Composting Consortium. The program, in which Nespresso has invested over 6 million euros so far, allows consumers to return their exhausted aluminum capsules to the specific recycling area inside the Nespresso Boutiques or in some ecological islands distributed throughout the country, for a total of 128 collection points in 73 Italian cities.
The spent capsules are sent for processing and recovery to a plant in the province of Brescia, where the aluminum is separated from the coffee. The aluminum is sent to the foundries to start the recycling process that will transform it into new objects (pens, pocket knives and more), while the coffee is sent to a composting plant for its transformation into compost, which is subsequently sold to a paddy field in Italy.
The rice produced thanks to this natural fertilizer is then repurchased by Nespresso and finally donated to Banco Alimentare della Lombardia and Lazio. A virtuous circle which, so far, has made it possible to recover over 6,500 tons of used capsules, about 400 tons of aluminum and over 3,300 tons of used coffee; in 10 years.
"In these first ten years of its life, 'Da Chicco a Chicco' has filled us with pride because it has allowed us to achieve important results and to support realities to which we feel, year after year, ever closer. This is thanks to the precious contribution of the consumers who every day bring back the used capsules in our Boutiques or at the partner ecological islands and who, together with us, participate in this journey to transform a coffee bean into a grain of rice "explains Chiara Murano, Sustainability & She Manager of Nespresso Italiana.
"We thank Nespresso for the donated rice, a precious and inclusive food that can be recovered with difficulty as a surplus from the agri-food chain and that unites cultures becoming a food for all", underlines the head of External Relations and Fundraising of the Banco Alimentare della Lombardia, Anna Clerici .
"People living in difficulty, assisted by the charitable structures affiliated with our association, are the ultimate beneficiaries, but this project generates a much wider positive social impact", comments the Director of the Banco Alimentare del Lazio, Monica Tola.
(HANDLE).