Mobility, Amt in Catania launches the ‘recycle and travel’ initiative

Free bus tickets in exchange for plastic bottles to help the environment and allow the citizens of Catania to save money by obtaining free travel tickets for the local public transport. This is the goal of the ‘Recycle and Travel’ initiative, promoted by the Catania Metropolitan Transport Company, with Coripet, a voluntary consortium for Pet Recycling, the waste collection company Dusty and the MyCicero app. The project involves the installation of six eco compactors in the Etna capital (present in addition to the station, in Piazza Borsellino and in the Amt parking areas of Fontanarossa, Due Obelischi, Nesima and Sanzio) in order to start the ‘bottle to bottle ‘, that is to generate from used Rpet bottles to make new bottles, in compliance with a European directive which establishes that, by 2025, PET bottles are made with at least 25% recycled Pet. With the help of the Amt, MyCicero and Coripet apps downloaded on their smartphones, citizens can access the machine, insert the bottles, which must be empty, not crushed, with a cap, label and legible barcode, and earn points. Every 20 bottles you will be entitled to a credit for a 90-minute one euro ticket and for every 50 bottles delivered, you will have a 2.50 euro ticket valid for the whole day. The more bottles awarded, the more points you accumulate to be entitled to discount vouchers for the purchase of travel tickets. “It’s a beautiful project – says the mayor of Catania Salvo Pogliese-. Catania is the second city in Italy to have built it. The initiative allows us to respect the environment and, at the same time, citizens will be able to obtain a ticket for local public transport. Kudos to Amt and the private companies that participated. Catania is increasingly a European city on the subject of sustainable mobility and we are happy and proud of it ”.