[10. Responsible
This is packaging seen as responsibility shared by everyone towards everyone else: in its design, manufacturing and application. Responsible packaging is the bearer of quality, that combines environmental protection with respect for all users’ needs.
For 5 years RICREA, together with the Umberto Veronesi Foundation and Anicav, has taken to the streets to raise funds to support scientific research against pediatric cancers
by
Ricrea
The initiative “Tomato for research” is now in its fifth edition. Good for you, good for the environment “organized by the Umberto Veronesi Foundation together with RICREA (National Consortium for Recycling and Recovery of Steel Packaging) and ANICAV (National Association of Vegetable Food Preserves).
The project, which sees tomato and the steel packaging that protects it as protagonists, was born with the aim of raising funds to finance research and care in the pediatric field, guaranteeing the best possible care for children with cancer and increasing their expectations of recovery.
The proceeds from the initiative reached about 1,700,000 euros in 5 years, with which an innovative treatment protocol was funded for children suffering from neuroblastoma, a tumor of the peripheral nervous system that represents, in pediatric age, the third neoplasm by frequency after leukemia and brain tumors. The protocol aims at evaluating the effectiveness of two different chemotherapy and radiotherapy regimens based on the subtype and molecular characteristics of the individual high-risk neuroblastomas, in order to personalize the therapy and obtain an improvement in the possibilities of treatment.
Fundamental in these 5 years has been the contribution of the volunteers of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, who have been involved in more than 400 distribution points in squares, businesses, schools, companies to support scientific research. For a minimum donation of 10 euros, they distributed a package with three steel cans of tomatoes, in the peeled, pulp and cherry tomatoes versions.
Tomato has always been a characteristic ingredient in the Mediterranean diet. It contains bioactive molecules such as polyphenols, powerful antioxidants, and carotenoids including lycopene, studied as an adjuvant in the strengthening of the immune system and in the prevention of some types of cancer. The steel cans, whose correct supply is promoted and facilitated by Ricrea, help to ensure the conservation of the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of the product. The steel packaging (such as cans, cans, cans, drums and crown caps) recovered thanks to separate collection are melted in a steel mill and returned to steel, to be reborn in new forms such as railway tracks and bicycle frames. Steel is among the most recycled packaging materials in the world, and can be 100% recycled indefinitely.
