The “Po d’Amare” initiative, an experimental project for the prevention of river and marine waste in the largest river in Italy, has produced excellent results in the city of Turin. During the trial period, which took place between September 2019 and January 2020, only 63 kilos of waste were collected in the Turin river. Such a small amount of waste during the period in question shows that, where the waste cycle is managed in accordance with legislation and the criteria of environmental sustainability and circular economy, the results are clear. Of the 63 kg of waste fished out of the Po, 60% was plastic packaging of various types, from PET bottles to PE flasks, from expanded polystyrene to plastic trays. The remaining 40%, on the contrary, was material of various kinds including fabrics, aluminium, steel and glass.
The waste was trapped by floating barriers so that it did not reach the sea, thus safeguarding natural resources such as rivers, seas and beaches. The same technique had already been used along the Po River for the first time in the province of Ferrara, but never in an urban context like Turin.
