Italian Phosphorus Platform to be established

For three days in January 2018, the German Phosphorus Platform (DPP) visited Italy to advise the country on setting up an organization for sustainable phosphorus management and phosphorus recycling, including meetings and events with parliamentarians, entrepreneurs, scientists and citizens. The highlight was a conference in the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, the Camera, to which also several hundred people participated online. Italian Member of Parliament Alberto Zolezzi stated: "In Italy, environmental protection has not played a big role for too long. We now want to do our utmost to not only make a meaningful contribution to environmental protection with this platform, but above all to convince the Italian population of the importance of a more sustainable use of resources. From phosphorus recovery alone in Italy, we can save 100 million euros a year through improved water treatment, not to mention environmental damage (especially the emergence of alien species) and health care”. Daniel Frank, director of DPP, underlined that both the German and European phosphorus platform are ready to provide experience and to cooperate with the project in Italy. The Italian Parliament has agreed to support the initiative with € 100,000 in 2018.