THE DEFENCE OF THE SEA BEGINS WITH THE RIVERS
Since time immemorial, rivers, the arteries of the planet, have been the protagonists in the birth of great civilisations, bringing wealth and life. Today, due to human activities, they have turned into conveyor belts of waste of all kinds, which they collect on their way.
In fact, 80% of the plastic polluting our seas comes from inland and, once dispersed in the water, traps and even seriously injures birds, fish and especially reptiles and cetaceans. Over time, it deteriorates into millions of invisible microplastics that damage the marine ecosystem and enter the food chain.
Your contribution can make the difference! Respect the environment, sort your waste but above all reduce waste. Together, we can fight pollution and choose a more sustainable future in harmony with nature for us, for our Planet and for future generations.
The circular economy for the preservation of the planet.
The Ocean notebooks are the result of a teamwork that unites different realities – of production, communication and associationism – towards a common goal: to realise and promote eco-sustainable products in a logic of circular economy with the aim of defending marine environments from pollution by plastic waste.
The circular economy is a production and consumption model that involves sharing, lending, reusing, repairing and recycling existing materials and products.
This extends the life cycle of products and helps to minimise waste.
Once the product has completed its function, the materials from which it is made are recycled and then reintroduced as a new raw material into the economic cycle.
The circular economy therefore contrasts with the classical linear economy based on the pattern
“extract, produce, use and throw away”: an economic model that is responsible for the pollution of our environment, for global warming and that assumes as its only value the maximisation of profit through the reduction of the cost of production.
People’s purchasing choices are key to promoting the circular economy.
Controlled and traceable supply chain: how the process takes place
Plastic waste recovered from municipal companies is delivered to Montello by the consortia that collect and market it.
In line with the Ocean project, Arbos chose the Montello because it also directly recycles plastic waste from cleaning river basins.
The waste came from cleaning the Venice lagoon, the Piave river basin, and the Tanaro river basin in the province of Asti. This establishes a form of traceability and correlation between the collection of riverine plastic waste and the use of recycled plastic from which Arbos notebooks are made.
Once in Montello, the different types of plastics that make up the waste are sorted, an operation that is indispensable in order to allow their subsequent use. The plastic granule, of the type suitable for the production of the Ocean sea-saving notebook, is then delivered to CTP, a company specialising in moulding recycled plastics, which prints the notebook covers to Arbos’ design and specifications.
The final realisation of the notebook takes place in Arbos: the insertion of the pages in 100% recycled paper and the spiral binding. The great value of the product and its communicative power lie in its ability to convey and ‘tell’ to those who buy it the premise of sustainability and compliance with circular economy criteria.
Technical details
The notebook cover is made of 100% recycled HDPE plastic from granulated detergent and cleaning agent bottles. The 15×21 notebook is made of plastic equal to that used for nine half-litre bottles of water. The small format 10.5×15, is equivalent to the plastic of 4.3 half-litre bottles.
The pages are made of 100% recycled unbleached 80 gsm post-consumer waste paper. The binding spiral is made of recyclable galvanised steel in the iron collection.
A pioneer in ecological stationery since its inception in 1988, Arbos helps people in their eco-friendly choices by making products that are useful in everyday life using recycled materials.
Recycled paper, recycled leather also recycled plastic and fabric are interpreted and enhanced by Arbos through collaboration with the world of design and art. Thus were born collections of articles for the school, the office, and gifts with a strong symbolic value, bearers of positive values, testifying to a way of life that respects the environment, fights waste, and rejects an unbridled consumerism that dissipates the resources of our planet. An Arbos product speaks of sustainability, creativity and beauty, but also of enhancing the great tradition of Italian craftsmanship.
CTP srl is a manufacturer of plastic articles, which has always been sensitive to the environment and attentive to social ethics. It was founded in 1978, distinguishing itself in the industry for creativity and attention to the quality of its articles. Characterised by 100% Made in Italy, it is a dynamic reality in continuous development that, through research into new materials, technologies and equipment, aims at an ecological transition to present the market with innovative, sustainable products with excellent added value. Sustainable design is focused on the production of new everyday items from recycled plastic from local waste collection. The aim of CTP srl is to transform waste into a resource, restoring value to this material by working on design colours and textures. In the past year alone, the company has used 100,000 kg of recycled plastic to produce eco-design items.
Montello S.p.A. is a company from Bergamo that has been operating for 25 years in the sector of recovery and recycling of organic waste and plastic packaging, both from separate urban waste collection. It is an example of a circular economy and a ‘carbon negative’ plant. In fact, from the recycling of the organic fraction of municipal waste, biomethane is produced and carbon dioxide is recovered. The recycling process of post-consumer plastic packaging allows different plastics to be recovered and given a new life in the form of granules for the production of various manufactured products. Montello has twice – in 2008 and 2018 – been awarded the first ‘Sustainable Development’ prize, sponsored by the President of the Republic, for the innovative technologies applied to the sector and the resulting environmental benefits, quantifiable in the saving of around 590,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent/year.
Environmental journal that daily promotes good environmental practices and industrial processes that favour the ecological transition.