CONFIDA (Italian Vending Association) has promoted, together with COREPLA (National Consortium for the Collection and Recovery of Plastic Packaging) and UNIONPLAST (National Union of Plastic Transformers Industries – Federation of Plastic Rubber), the RiVending project, a “closed cycle” for the recovery and recycling of plastic cups and stirrers for vending machines in compliance with the requirements of the European Union with a view to an efficient circular economy.
How does RiVending work?
A special container is placed next to the vending machine where you can throw plastic cups and stirrers after use. The lid of the container has holes as large as the diameter of the glasses, as well as a hole for the stirrers. Rigid tubes present inside and attached to the lid accompany the falling of the glasses, favoring their stacking one inside the other. The volume of glasses collected in the same bag decreases by more than 150% compared to the collection in generic plastic.
The RiVending container has inside a bag of a different color from those of the rest of the waste collection and is collected by the same company that manages the waste. After a simple selection of the bags, they are delivered directly. to COREPLA which sends them to recycling.
Vending cups and stirrers are both made of a single type of plastic (compact polystyrene) and are easily washable. The residues of coffee, milk, tea or similar beverages are in fact liquids that can be easily eliminated, without any danger of contamination. After that, mechanical recycling will bring them back to being plastic flakes or granules that will be reintroduced into production.
Rivending makes it possible to simplify and make the material recycling process efficient, in fact a plastic of the highest quality and value is recovered upstream of the process, avoiding the costly and dispersive steps of separation from other plastics and industrial washing.
The final goal of the project, however, is to transform the used glass into a new glass, thus creating an efficient circular economy in the sector.
RiVending is a “zero waste” project because the plastic used is entirely recycled and reintroduced into the production cycle of new products.
CONFIDA promotes the “Vending Sostenibile” award as part of the “Cresco Award – Sustainable Cities” organized by the Sodalitas Foundation and ANCI National Association of Italian Municipalities: an award to the Italian Municipality that has conceived and implemented the best sustainable development project applied to the world of vending machines.
The aim of the award is to promote public initiatives capable of enhancing the environmental, social and economic aspects of vending, a sector that has been investing for some time in energy saving, recycling, efficiency of logistics and distribution, education in more aware behavior and lifestyles, and social inclusion.
The first four editions were won by:
The initiative is part of the CONFIDA “Vending Sostenibile” project, which is working with a specific Commission made up of companies in the sector that is committed to investigating the issues of sustainability in vending.
In the vending sector, sustainability is a very broad topic that touches various phases of the activity, from the efficient management of energy and warehouses within the company, to sustainability in transport, up to the choice of food products and management of waste in the perspective of an increasingly circular economy.
The “Vending Sostenibile” project was created by CONFIDA in 2014 and is carried out by a specific Committee, made up of companies in the sector, that works to deepen the issues of sustainability in vending.
The best practices in the sector are published in a dedicated section of the association’s website (https://www.confida.com/vending-sostenibile/).
The Top Quality Standard TQS-Vending certification has been designed specifically for the Vending sector, to enable public authorities, private enterprises and, most of all, consumers to evaluate the quality of the services delivered through the vending machines.
Coffee is undoubtedly one of the Italian excellences and it is also a top driver in the Vending sector; therefore, it is important to guarantee the quality of the coffee distributed through vending machines. With this purpose CONFIDA, in collaboration with CSQA Certificazioni (Italian certification and inspection company) has developed the certification DTP-114 for grain-coffee blends.
Over the last years, the Vending sector has been expanding both in terms of business activity – offering a wider selection of products, not just food – and in terms of alternative distribution channel, complementary to conventional stores, thus providing several benefits. CONFIDA, in collaboration with Confcommercio, has published “La Distribuzione Automatica” as part of the series “Le Bussole” by Confcommercio – Imprese per l’Italia, thus providing a useful guide through the change the sector is experiencing.
CONFIDA has started to collaborate with the consumers’ association ADICONSUM to provide exhaustive information on the Vending sector and its regulations and, most of all, to increase the awareness among consumers and allow them to benefit from the service offered, also in terms of products quality and selection. The initiative promoted by CONFIDA and ADICONSUM has brought to the publishing of «Conosci il vending: la distribuzione automatica, regole e diritti dei consumatori» (Learning about Vending: vending machines, regulations and consumers’ rights).
Venditalia is the benchmark trade fair for international Vending industry both in terms of square meters occupied and number of visitors. The biennial exhibition takes place in Milan, in Fieramilanocity pavillions; the latest edition was attended by 270 exhibitors (+20% compared to the previous edition) and 22 thousand visitors (+10% compared to 2014), of which 26% from 101 different countries. The next edition is scheduled 25th to 28th May 2022.
In compliance with the guidelines set with the interministerial Program “Guadagnare Salute – Rendere più facili le scelte salutari”, CONFIDA has developed and launched the project SANI e inFORMA (2009-2010) to promote the importance of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle among youngsters.
