Rome is trialling a scheme where people can recycle plastic bottles in return for free rides on the city's public transport system.
Called + Ricicli + Viaggi, or + Recycle + Travel, the recycling scheme accepts PET plastic bottles which are collected and sent for processing.
Machines at three metro stations in the city exchange one plastic bottle for ?0.05 in credit, making a ?1.50 journey worth 30 bottles.
The credits collected via recycling can be used on Rome's metro system. Photo by Daniele Brundu
"We can say we are the first major European capital to present this innovation," Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi said at the launch of the recycling scheme.
"A machine that eats plastic bottles and issues a credit with which to buy bus tickets. The circular economy is easy to do." Bottles exchanged for online credit 
Atac, which runs Rome's public transport network, will credit accounts with an "ecobonus" on the online ticket purchasing apps MyCicero and TabNet when users insert plastic bottles into the machine.

"It will be possible to reward responsible behaviour from an environmental standpoint and retain customers who use the mobile channel," said Atac.
The pilot project is being run by the local authorities for a year to see if it improves recycling levels and discourages fare-dodging.
City hopes to encourage recycling
Machines are currently located at the Cipro station on Line A, the Piramide station on Line B and San Giovanni station...