home Michoacán Italy will use wine that is not sold to make antibacterial gel
Italy has decided to give a practical solution to the huge quantities of surplus wine produced in the transalpine country, turning the liquid into disinfectant gel. The material is equivalent to some 70 million bottles of wine denomination of origin, according to the newspaper ABC.
The solution is given by combining the decline in demand for wine due to the closure of restaurants, and the need to generate disinfectant gel that helps prevent the contagion of Covid-19.
This “gel operation” has an endowment of EUR 50 million by national and regional authorities, with an allocated aid of 27 cents per litre of disinfectant liquid produced. This price, which has only been accepted in the regions of Puglia, Sicily, Campania, Marche, Piemonte and Lazio, is controversial because France has offered its producers to pay a larger amount, up to 80 cents per litre, to discard 375 million bottles.
The closure of bars and restaurants and the drastic reduction of wine exports has left Italy (the world’s first selling country of this drink) with a large surplus of product and a problem with the pandemic. Distilleries have changed function and are currently turning alcohol into a tool to fight coronavirus.
