An innovative 3×3 basketball surface made with recycled rubber will be donated by Ecopneus to the Tuscan school that will develop the best multimedia project linked to the recycling of End-of-Life Tyres.

The project is now in its 10th edition. In the course of the years, it has involved over 10,000 students in 9 Italian regions. It is promoted by Ecopneus in collaboration with Legambiente and it is aimed at all the students of primary and secondary schools of Region Tuscany.  

Students as sustainability protagonists. This is the foreword of the contest “For a correct recycling of End-of-Life Tyres” organised within the scope of the Educational Project promoted by Ecopneus and Legambiente. This contest invites students to start an educational programme on environmental good practices. They are invited to create a video or a presentation with images, drawings, and interviews on the topic of End-of-Life Tyre (ELTs) management.

This training project is already in its 10th edition. This year it has reached Tuscany and it will see the students of primary and secondary schools collaborating with their teachers to create a positive message about the benefits deriving from the correct management of ELTs and the importance of legality upon purchasing new tyres. Indeed, legal tyre buying avoids any potential environmental risk and, at the same time, allows to exploit the many possible advantages offered from the use of a material as precious as recycled rubber is.

The classes taking part in the contest will have to make a 3-minute video or a presentation with images, drawings, and interviews on the correct management of ELTs. The works will have to be handed in by 21st April. They will be judged by a jury of experts representing the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Environment, Legambiente, and Ecopneus. Ecopneus will donate a state-of-the-art, innovative, 3×3 basketball court made with rubber recycled from End-of-Life Tyres to the winning class.

Giovanni Corbetta, General Manager of Ecopneus stated: “Since 2011, Ecopneus has recovered over 2 million tonnes of ELTs, assuring their widespread collection, transport and subsequent treatment in companies specialised in ELT recovery and recycling all over Italy. In collaboration with Legambiente, we have carried out this important project since 2013. It is a project dedicated to schools with the aim of raising awareness and helping students to get to know and understand the benefits deriving from the correct management of ELTs. In order to create a culture of sustainability, legality, and respect of the environment, it is fundamental to educate the new generations.”

Vanessa Pallucchi and Fausto Ferruzza, respectively: National Vice-president and Regional President of Legambiente, stated: “This year, with this project, we are addressing a school facing the difficulties of social and educational distancing. We hope that, for both teachers and students, this project may represent a stimulus to reconnect with reality and their territory starting from the analysis of an environmental problem such as the one of End-of-Life Tyres. If managed by the means of the correct recycling chain, this problem can turn into a resource that can help to regenerate spaces – such as sports ones – that are always an important opportunity for the younger generations to grow well and socialise.”

Together with the educators of Legambiente, the Educational Project has already involved over 10,000 students in 9 regions from the North to the South of the Italian peninsula. These have been able to see and, in certain cases, to “touch first hand” the ELT recovery process and the modalities for their correct management. Thematic events, didactic activities, and visits to recycling plants on their territory have allowed the students to see the concrete results of the management of a product at the end of its life. The latter is transformed into a material that is useful for everybody thanks to the contribution of both citizens and all the subjects responsible for the management chain, up to the recycling guaranteed by Ecopneus.

 To register your class and take part in the contest, it is necessary to register at www.legambientescuolaformazione.it/user; the deadline for the handing in of the projects is 21st April. For further information, it is possible to write to:  scuola.formazione@legambiente.it.