Thank you. Together we collected
179 kg of WEEE
In a single morning, 10 households at Via Vanvitelli dropped off 179 kilograms of electronic waste accumulated over the years. 18.5% of the building took part, with only 2 days' notice. Thanks to RecoServ proximity collection, every kg was correctly sent to recycling.
The impact in numbers
Inside those 179 kg
What was collected and what will be recovered.
Composition by category
Via Vanvitelli 50 · CDC WEEE groupings · weight in kg
- R4 – Small app./IT41.6%
- R3 – TVs/Monitors57.9%
- R5 – Light sources0.2%
- Batteries0.3%
- Other0.0%
Recoverable raw materials
Estimated average composition · WEEE Forum coefficients
- Iron/Steel22.1%
- Plastics27.1%
- Glass/Panels18.8%
- Aluminium9.7%
- Copper9.2%
- Precious metals0.2%
- Other13.1%
Estimate based on average composition per WEEE category. Not a substitute for certified laboratory analysis.
avg. weight 0.72 kg/pc · smartphones, cables, small appliances
avg. weight 11.52 kg/pc · televisions and monitors
of precious metals estimated as recoverable (Au, Ag, Pd) from 179 kg of WEEE
What was in those drawers
Almost 58% of the weight was R3: TVs and monitors that families had kept for years. 42% was R4: 104 small devices including chargers, smartphones and appliances. None of them belong in general waste.
104 small R4 devices, averaging 0.72 kg each. Alone, none of them justifies a trip to the civic amenity site. Together, they weigh 74 kg.
What residents say
No form, no structured interview. Just conversations during the drop-off, logged in real time. Nine households, nine different stories.
3 of 9 households independently asked when the next collection would be.
2 residents reported keeping WEEE for more than five years, up to twenty.
2 households spontaneously cited the usefulness of a permanent bin in the building.
Several residents suggested putting working devices back into use before recycling them.
An elderly man from the ground floor asked for a leaflet and when the next collection would take place.
Clear signal: the initiative activates long-time hoarders and they immediately ask for continuity.
A couple called the initiative excellent and asked whether the Smart Bin would be installed in the building.
Spontaneous validation of the physical product, before they had even seen any promotional material.
At least three different households independently asked when the next collection event would be.
The most frequent question of the day. It shows the interest is not one-off: a stable service is needed.
A resident had been hoarding devices for twenty years: the civic amenity site needs a car, time and willpower. Today it was finally easy.
Three overlapping barriers (anti-consumerism, lack of time, hope of reuse) dissolve in front of proximity. Immediate willingness to repeat.
A relative of residents, from another neighbourhood, would have joined if she had heard about the event in time.
Demand for collection exists beyond the building footprint: an information channel reaching outside the courtyard is needed.
A young renter brought cables, a microphone, small devices and bulbs that had been sitting in drawers for months.
The renter profile, often seen as less engaged, takes part when friction drops to zero.
Several residents independently suggested putting still-working devices back into use before recycling them.
A bottom-up circular-economy idea. Adding a reuse channel would increase the perceived value of the service.
A resident described the initiative as much appreciated.
A short but positive feedback, recorded during the drop-off.
A resident, at the end of the event, asked when the collection would be repeated.
Independent confirmation that the service should become recurring, not a one-off event.
avoided thanks to correct recycling
Source: WEEE Forum / EEE Life Cycle Assessment
What the two pilots say together
Vanvitelli generated more material per participant (accumulated-stock effect in a larger building). Plinio recorded the highest participation rate thanks to longer advance notice.
| Metric | Pilot #1 Vanvitelli | Pilot #2 Plinio |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 18 Apr 2026 | 9 May 2026 |
| Participants | 10 | 7 |
| Participation rate | 18.5% | 22.6% |
| kg / dwelling | 3.32 kg | 3.04 kg |
| Total kg | 179.22 kg | 94.35 kg |
| kg / participant | 17.92 kg | 13.48 kg |
| CDC WEEE estimate | €57.46 | €28.72 |
| CO₂eq avoided | 589 kg | 280 kg |
| Dominant category | R3 (57.9%) | R4 (69.6%) |
| CUMULATIVE TOTAL · 17 households · 273 kg · €86 · 869 kg CO₂eq | ||
The material does not stop here
Each drop-off was weighed by CDC WEEE category and logged into the system at the point of collection.
WEEE collected at the Via Vanvitelli pilot was delivered to the Via Corelli civic amenity site (Milan), an authorised plant in the municipal circuit.
Metals, plastics and components are separated and put back into the production cycle. Copper, aluminium, lithium: nothing is lost.
Images from the collection
A selection of images taken during the Via Vanvitelli 50 collection.
RecoServ starts from a simple question.
Why is recycling electronic devices so hard? Not for lack of willingness. 98% of Italians consider recycling important. But for lack of proximity.
RecoServ removes that distance. We bring collection where you already are: into your building's courtyard. No appointments, no paperwork, no trips.
We are an innovative startup from Lombardy. We are building SB-WEEE: a smart container with IoT sensors, cloud connectivity and direct integration with municipalities.
Discover the project → recoserv.euSB-WEEE SmartBin
The next step: install a permanent bin in your building. A permanent point, without waiting for the next event.
Found a word you don't know?
Flip the cards.
Anything mains- or battery-powered when it stops being used. Smartphones, TVs, light bulbs, ovens, headphones, chargers. Italy produces more than 900,000 tonnes per year. Less than a third is collected properly.
Whoever makes and sells electronics in Italy pays a fee for each device placed on the market. These funds are redistributed to the municipalities that collect WEEE in a certified way. More WEEE intercepted = more funds returned.
The largest category: 134 of 138 items collected in our pilots. Smartphones, chargers, headphones, vacuum cleaners, printers, smart bulbs, small appliances. Anything below 50 cm. Hard to dispose of · easy to hoard.
The first collection event empties years of hoarding. An Italian household has on average 5–8 devices sitting at home for more than 2 years. From the second event onwards only the 'current flow' is collected: 1.5–3 kg per participant instead of 13–18 kg.
Producing recycled aluminium instead of virgin aluminium saves about 80% of the energy. Each kg of recycled copper avoids 4–5 kg of CO₂ compared with mining. WEEE is an urban mine: recovering it means not having to extract those materials elsewhere.
One tonne of smartphones contains ~300g of gold · a gold mine yields on average 1–5g per tonne of rock extracted. Smartphone circuit boards also contain silver, palladium and indium. This is why WEEE is called 'urban mining': it is richer than many mines.
European principle: whoever puts a product on the market is responsible for its end of life. Samsung, Apple, Philips and all the others pay fees to CDC WEEE for every device sold. These funds finance collection · including the RecoServ service.
Collected WEEE follows a tracked path: registered transporter → authorised plant (SISTRI/RENTRI) → material separation → foundry/refinery for metals → plastics plants. Every step is documented. Disposing of it any other way is illegal.
70% of Italians who don't recycle their WEEE cite logistic reasons: the civic amenity site is far, opening hours are inconvenient, it makes no sense to drive there for an old charger. Proximity removes that barrier. A collection point in the courtyard requires no extra effort.
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