“Recycling but also save money” four Mediterranean countries exchange best practices for respecting the planet.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle but also Repair: the four R of Circular Economy in the best practices of the four Mediterranean countries: Italy, Spain, Jordan and Tunisia. It is the Reusemed project, from European Union under the ENI CBC Med, in which the City of Capannori in Lucca, Italy, Fondazione Reggio Children- Centro Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia and Remida Reggio Emilia creative recycling centre are participating.

"Making waste a resource is a way to respect the climate and the planet," says Carla Rinaldi, president of Fondazione Reggio Children- Reggio Emilia."

The Reusemed project aims to create reuse networks from the best practices of citizens in four countries. "The Mediterranean dimension of the project is part of its cultural richness," Rinaldi continued, "by networking communities, institutions, experts, with crossing borders in sharing these best practices.

Project activities are based on reuse and regeneration of materials, with the possibility of repairing what already exists, such as household appliances, to avoid generating new waste.  Especially, Capannori, a zero-waste municipality, has initiated the first Festival of Reuse and will create a municipal network of reuse and a fortress of reuse, a place that will network all the realities in the area that deal with sustainable development and regeneration.

"Today more than ever, in the face of the dramatic demonstration of the climate crisis," Carla Rinaldi concludes, "best practices, shared and participated in by entire communities, are important. Education for sustainability means educating ourselves together, as a community, by assuming awareness of our every gesture."

Particularly significant within Reusemed is the participation of Remida, which provides schools and educational services with industrial waste materials for creative use. Remida is a project of Istituzione Scuole e Nidi d'Infanzia del Comune di Reggio Emilia, Fondazione Reggio Children and Iren.

REUSEMED is funded by the European Union (EU) under the ENI CBC Med Programme. Its total budget is €3.2 million, of which €2.9 million are EU contribution (90%).