Together with “A Buon Rendere” and environmental activist Merijn Tinga, the Foundation highlights the importance of a Deposit Return System for protecting the sea
More than 50% of waste found on the seabed of the Mediterranean and over 95% of floating litter on the surface is made of plastic. Of the 430,000 tonnes of PET bottles placed on the market in Italy every year, only 70% is collected for recycling. The rest ends up in the environment or is disposed of in incinerators and landfill. This is particularly alarming considering that Italy has the highest bottled water consumption in Europe and is therefore among the countries placing the greatest number of plastic bottles on the market.
This is the context behind the national campaign “A Buon Rendere – Molto più di un vuoto”, which promotes the introduction of a Deposit Return System (DRS) in Italy to reduce plastic leakage into the environment. As part of the initiative, Marevivo Foundation met Pope Leo XIV for the first time together with Dutch biologist and environmental activist Merijn Tinga, also known as the “Plastic Soup Surfer”, with the aim of involving the Holy See and encouraging the adoption of a Deposit Return System for plastic bottles and cans.
During the meeting with the Pope, Tinga proposed introducing a deposit return scheme within Vatican City itself: a simple yet highly symbolic gesture, fully aligned with the environmental principles expressed in the encyclical Laudato si’ and with the urgent need to move beyond today’s throwaway culture, one of the main drivers of pollution and its consequences for both ecosystems and human health.
Although Italy remains one of the leading countries in the European Union for circular material use and has already exceeded EU packaging recycling targets – reaching 76.7% against the 70% target set for 2030 – the country is still falling short of the goals established by the Single-Use Plastics Directive for PET bottle collection. The 77% target set for 2025 has been missed by at least seven percentage points, while the 90% target required by the end of 2028 appears increasingly difficult to achieve, particularly given the current challenges facing the plastics recycling sector.
For this reason, Marevivo and the “A Buon Rendere” campaign are supporting Merijn Tinga – the “Plastic Soup Surfer” and his efforts to strengthen public engagement and institutional backing for the Deposit Return System.
“The 19 European countries that have already introduced this system confirm its effectiveness: it remains the most efficient tool for rapidly achieving the EU target of collecting 90% of plastic bottles and metal beverage containers by 2029,” said Raffaella Giugni, Secretary General of Marevivo. “It is estimated that introducing DRS in Italy could reduce by 80% the waste generated by more than 8 billion containers that currently escape recycling each year. We believe that a symbolic and influential State such as Vatican City could lead by example by adopting the system within its own borders. It would send a strong and meaningful message from the Catholic Church and further demonstrate its commitment to the common good through concrete action against environmental pollution.”
“The deposit return system is extremely effective: within just six months it can reduce littering of bottles and cans by 80%. A bottle becomes a bottle again – this is the true meaning of a circular economy. But above all, it helps restore a sense of responsibility in a society increasingly shaped by disposable habits. This journey has been an extraordinary adventure, marked by headwinds, rough seas and difficult moments on the water. Yet every time I reached land I found generosity, support and a warm welcome. Along the way I not only crossed coastlines, but met extraordinary people and built new friendships. It is precisely these human connections, and the sense of a shared mission, that give me the strength to continue,” said Merijn Tinga – the “Plastic Soup Surfer”.
The meeting at the Vatican followed a conference held the previous day at Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, attended by Marevivo and “A Buon Rendere”, during which three legislative proposals on a deposit return system for plastic bottles and single-use cans were presented by members of Parliament from three different political parties: the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement and Brothers of Italy.
Speakers also included representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, ISPRA, ASviS, Fare Verde and Acqua Sant’Anna, the first leading brand in the sector to publicly support the urgency of introducing a national deposit return system.
“To meet Europe’s ambitious collection and recycling targets, just over two years remain, and only a deposit return system can realistically deliver this while also ensuring reliable and fully transparent data. Under DRS, every container placed on the market is registered through a barcode on the packaging, making real-time tracking possible from sale to collection and recycling. In Italy, by contrast, we still lack data of the same quality and traceability, as our current reporting system can only provide estimates rather than count individual units placed on the market,” explained Silvia Ricci, coordinator of the campaign.
As part of a three-day programme of events, on 19 May Marevivo and the Plastic Soup Surfer team also organised a clean-up activity at Parco Marconi in Rome, followed by a public talk on the impact of plastic pollution in urban environments. The initiative was attended by Sabrina Alfonsi, Councillor for Agriculture, Environment and Waste Management for the City of Rome, Gianluca Lanzi, President of Rome’s Municipality XI, and Merijn Tinga himself, who arrived by stand-up paddle board along the River Tiber and was welcomed by Marevivo volunteers together with many local residents and students from schools across Rome.
