Representatives from the 20 European organisations involved in PlastiCircle met in Torino to share the progress and developments of the project and discuss the next steps. One of the hot topics were the pilots taking place in three cities: Valencia (Spain), Utrecht (the Netherlands) and Alba Iulia (Romania). The pilot in Valencia, which finished in October, was considered a success: over 550 families registered to take part in it. Participants could get points through properly sorting their plastic waste, through doing it regularly, through participating in social media challenges and through joining sorting workshops. Other positive results were achieved in terms of savings in fuel consumption and time during the collection operations.
Utrecht also presented their pilot and the activities they did as part of it, for instance their raising awareness videos with Madame Plastique. Participants joined workshops and panel discussions, and were invited to do some weekly assignments. Alba Iulia will start its pilot in April. The city is currently getting ready and preparing the communication campaign, as well as other details to involve citizens.
During the upcoming months of the project, partners will also analyse the potential market opportunities for the PlastiCircle solutions and the future market uptake.