In the city of Arezzo, an innovative Tyrefield court made with recycled rubber has been donated by Ecopneus to the school that presented the best multimedia project linked to the correct recycling of End-of-Life Tyres.

 Now on its 10th edition, the Educational Project promoted by Ecopneus in collaboration with Legambiente has so far involved over 10,000 students in 9 Italian Regions.

An innovative basketball court made with rubber recycled from ELTs- End-of-Life Tyres – has been donated to Arezzo’s “Giorgio Vasari” school – the winner of the contest “For a correct recycling of End-of-Life Tyres”. This year, the Educational project promoted by Legambiente and Ecopneus has involved Tuscany’s secondary schools with activities and lessons linked to the correct recovery of End-of-Life Tyres. Ecopneus is a non-profit consortium and is currently the main operator in the sector of the management of End-of-Life Tyres in Italy.

This educational project has already involved over 10,000 students in 9 Italian Regions, from the North to the South of the Peninsula.  These students have been able to see and, in certain cases, “touch with their own hands” the ELT-recovery process and the modalities for their correct management through thematic events and teaching activities organised by the trainers of Legambiente and trips to visit recycling plants. These training activities have been supported by a contest aimed at stimulating the students into creating a video with a message linked to the good practices for the correct recycling of End-of-Life Tyres. The works have been evaluated by a jury of experts that included representatives of Legambiente, Ecopneus, The Ministry of Instruction, and the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The jury’s task has been to select and announce the finalist classes.

Arezzo’s “Giorgio Vasari” Secondary School has been awarded the first place. This school has received an innovative Tyrefield basketball court made with rubber recycled from End-of-Life Tyres as a gift from Ecopneus. The Giorgio Vasari Comprehensive school is part of the Italian network of “green” schools. Starting from the 2019-2020 school year, it has been a plastic free school and has implemented a number of projects and initiatives in favour of environmental protection, promoting green forms of behaviour and choices among its students. The winners of the second and third place have been, respectively, the “Busoni” Secondary School of the town of Empoli (FI), and the “Galileo Galilei” Technical Industrial Institute of the city of Arezzo.

Federico Dossena, General Manager of Ecopneus, commented: “We have always put great effort in training and awareness-raising activities aimed at students with reference to recycling, legality and environmental protection. In collaboration with Legambiente, we have developed this important project since 2013. It is a project aimed at schools with the objective of raising the awareness and helping the students to learn about and understand the benefits deriving from the correct management of ELTs. In order to build a culture of sustainability, of legality and respect of the environment, it is fundamental to train the new generations. For this reason, we are proud to offer the students a concrete piece of evidence of the benefits linked to the correct recycling of ELTs.”

Vanessa Pallucchi, National Vice-President of Legambiente said: “With the project “For a correct recycling of End-of-Life Tyres”, we have introduced the topic of the circular economy in the many schools that have collaborated with us in the course of the years. We aim at raising the awareness and developing skills involving students, teachers, and schools in a path of civic education and scientific citizenship, in order to offer the opportunity of better learning about sustainability and becoming protagonists of the ecological transition”.   

The project developed by Ecopneus and Legambiente is now on its 10th edition. It has shown the students the concrete results of a correct management of End-of-Life Tyres, whereby the latter are transformed into useful goods thanks to the contribution of both citizens and all the bodies in charge of the management cycle up to tyre recycling – the latter being guaranteed by Ecopneus. This both prevents any potential environmental risk and exploits the many possible advantages of the use of a material as precious as recycled rubber. Indeed, the rubber obtained from the recycling of End-of-Life Tyres is a precious, high-quality material that is widely used all over the world for producing sports surfaces, football pitches, soundproofing panels, urban furniture, as well as silent, long-lasting asphalts or energy. These benefits have been made possible thanks to an efficient system of collection, transport, and recycling of End-of-Life Tyres all over Italy – such as the one set up by Ecopneus.