The pitches have been inaugurated in the Vanvitelli Neighbourhood today. They are state-of-the-art synthetic turf football pitches made with recycled rubber. They have been donated to the city thanks to the “Protocol against the dumping of End-of-Life tyres in the so-called “Terra del Fuochi” (Land of Fires).
Boys and girls of the Vanvitelli neighbourhood will be able to play and dream big because two new state-of-the-art synthetic turf football pitches have been inaugurated in their neighbourhood today. They have been donated to the city thanks to the “Protocol against the dumping of End-of-Life tyres in the Terra dei Fuochi (Land of Fires)” signed by the Ministry of the Environment, the deputy Prefect in charge of fighting the fires in Campania, the Prefectures, the cities of Naples and Caserta, and Ecopneus in 2013.
Two years after the construction of Scampia’s stadium (with a pitch made using the same technologies), a further message of hope has been sent out in another popular neighbourhood of the Region. Today over 100 boys and girls have taken part in sports activities and choreographic dances on these new pitches.
This intervention in Caserta has been praised by the Minister of the environment, General Sergio Costa, who was present at the double ribbon-cutting ceremony. He stated: “this is the circular economy we like: it is a concrete example of how waste is a resource and can have a second life. The football and five-a-side football pitches we have inaugurated today demonstrate the efficacy of the Protocol against the dumping of End-of-Life tyres in the Land of Fires, signed by my Ministry in 2013. The State can walk hand in hand with the entrepreneurs in the fight against environmental crimes. We all gain from this: from the institutions, to all honest citizens.”
The Protocol has already permitted to remove over 22 thousand tonnes of End-of-Life tyres from the roads of over 40 Councils of the territory. The inauguration of two pitches in Caserta represents the ideal closing of the recovery cycle of these materials: from potential environmental disaster, if set on fire and used as fuel for waste fires, to a safe and precious material with exceptional performances, if correctly recycled. Next to the operative activities of intervention on the territory, the Protocol is becoming a valid tool of awareness-raising on issues such as environment and legality. This is also thanks to the many interventions carried out with recycled rubber which, in the course of the years, have left a concrete sign on the territory: play grounds, gathering spaces, and sports surfaces.
The new pitches of the Vanvitelli neighbourhood contain over 87 tonnes of recycled rubber from End-of-Life Tyres (83 tonnes in the football pitch, 4.3 in the 5-a-side one). They are made with a technology of the highest international standards, which is more and more appreciated also by the Serie A football teams (the most important Italian football championship). The works started on 9th April and ended on 28th June.
Not only the Minister of the Environment has taken part in the inauguration ceremony in front of inhabitants, students, and local associations; but also the Mayor of the City of Caserta, Mr Carlo Marino, the deputy Prefect in charge of fighting the fires in Campania, Mr Gerlando Iorio, and Mr Giovanni Corbetta, General Manager of Ecopneus have participated.
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