“We are an excellence in the circular economy and we propose ourselves as a paradigm. We believe our model worked ”. In view of the Earth Day of 22 April, Riccardo Piunti, president of Conou, takes stock with Adnkronos on the results of the national consortium of waste oils and on the objectives for the near future. A used oil supply chain that can be a model for the Old Continent. “While our used oil supply chain works with a regeneration rate of 98-99% in the rest of Europe we are at 60% and also the collection is lower, in percentage terms, than that made in Italy. In our country it works because the consortium is also a controller of the flows. This is why we are an excellence in Europe ”, he explains. In 38 years of activity “we have recovered 6 million tons of used oil. We have them for the most part, 5.6-5.7 million, sent for regeneration “. For an economic saving due to the lack of oil imports that “in our history, considering years in which the prices were high and others in which they were low, exceeded 3 billion euros”. For the future, Conou looks at the importance of communication, especially that addressed to the new generations, and at the technological evolutions of the sector. “We want to be a paradigm of the circular economy and push on this: communication is important and we always try to do it in the best possible way. We also do this a lot with young people; we are participating in a School ReGeneration project of the Ministry of Education with which we collaborate to work together with the classes, through the Lim, with our educational video games, those of the Green League, which ask environmental questions and teach fundamentals about nature, climate and waste management. We will also take it to Didacta ”. “Furthermore, as technologies change and new types of lubricants with a partly vegetable origin are on the way, we are gearing up to do our best work even in the presence of used lubricants of a different nature”, he adds.