Why Are you R?

Are you R is a European project aimed at increasing public awareness of the importance of plastics recycling.

This project aims to increase public awareness of the environment and the knowledge of the benefits associated to the recycling of plastic materials.

Plastic is everywhere around us, and it’s easily available. Moreover, it has assumed a major importance over the years and it’s often unthinkable to replace it. It makes our lives easier every day in many ways. It’s really easy to use, but it’s also easy to throw it away, though. By using it correctly instead, we can make sure it’s recycled, so that new products can be created.

Are you R was created under the will of some Italian companies, which have been operating in this sector for many years, and Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE). Through a variety of content, ranging from current events to technology, from economics to lifestyle, Are you R has been talking about the evolution of plastic materials and their re-use from multiple perspectives. Only if you know how it works, you can improve everybody’s habits. Plastic waste is a major resource. Its management and its valuation are the key to a more sustainable world.

Recycling plastics is beneficial for all: large quantities of products can be created and, consequently, the environment can ben helped, the use of energy and primary resources is limited, and, at the same time, the circular economy can be boosted.

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MISSION

Are you R aims not only to raise awareness in the European population about plastics recycling, but also to make them use it consciously. For this reason, we talk about the evolution, the use, and the recycling of plastics from various points of view. We involve not only the population, but also the production companies, so that this project can become a real Conversation & Debate Platform among citizens.

VISION

Respect for the environment, education and civic sense as permanent values and not as laborious achievements: this is the world we want to live in. We strive for a society in which there are no materials left to be demonized, for they are produced, used, and properly disposed on the basis of Reduce – Reuse – Recycle. We strive for a reality where the lifecycle of materials does not end immediately, but instead, lasts long thanks to the recycling benefits. We want to live in a world where everyone can be “R”.

OUR INSTRUMENTS

The Are you R project is divided into six official Facebook-pages: in addition to the Italian one, which already reached more than 23.000 followers, you can find Are you R Greek, Dutch, German, Spanish & Portuguese, totalling over 40.000 followers. To date, this project reaches 35.000 people per day and already obtained more than 150.000 post interactions (updated March 2020).

OUR PEOPLE

Are you R was created under the will of some Italian companies, which have been operating in the field of production of recycling machinery for many years - FIMIC, Filtec, Gamma Meccanica e Tecnofer -, along with Plastics Recyclers Europe. And that’s not all: Are you R was immediately supported by a lot of national and foreign companies, that are supporters who embraced the values and the goals of this project.

OUR IDEA

The idea of this project is not only to raise consumer awareness of plastics recycling, but also to show less-known technical aspects of the recycling process, in addition to raise awareness of a material that is commonly demonised, simply because, actually, little is known about it.

NEEDS

Plastic is everywhere. It’s easy to use, but it’s also easy to throw it away. Therefore, it easily assumes an undignified role in current climate struggles. And yet, if it’s true that a plastic bottle takes 100 years to decompose, it is also true that a glass bottle takes 4000 years. Then why do we only criticise plastic? Why don’t we just support its recycling?