Metro travellers in Rome can swap plastic bottles for tickets

Rome has introduced an option where citizens can get €0.05 off the price of their next metro journey for every bottle they recycle. 

The scheme is being tested at three stations around the Eternal City, where special machines compact the bottles and add credit to a user’s metro travel application.

Bottles can be any size from 0.25cl to 2 litres.

The eco-friendly initiative, called Ricicli+Viaggi (Recycle + Travel) was launched by the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, on behalf of Rome’s transport network Atac.

The machines will be in place for a 12-month “test-phase” and if they prove to be a success, authorities will expand the scheme.

Rome is just the latest city to offer travel credits for recycling plastic bottles. A similar scheme was launched in Beijing in 2014, and in Istanbul plastic bottles can help pay for both tram and subway trips.