Educating about recycling means talking about the future, it's true. But it also means talking about the present, about small daily actions that can turn into conscious habits, capable of making a concrete impact on the environment, on territories and on the quality of public services.

It is from this idea that... “Difference pays: let’s do it well, let’s do it together”, The environmental education project proposed by Sikuel together with Legambiente Sicily and promoted by SRR Messina Provincia under measure PNRR M2C1.1.1 I1.1 Intervention Line A, for the provision of an integrated information system for the management of separate waste collection charging.

A course aimed at primary school students, designed to simply and interestingly explain the value of quality separate waste collection and the link between virtuous behaviour, environmental protection, and fairness in waste management.

A project for the new generations

The project involved over 2,000 pupils – from 15 schools in the 57 municipalities belonging to the SRR Messina Province – through an interactive webinar that took place on May 14th.

The aim was not just to explain to children how to sort waste correctly, but to convey an even deeper concept: every daily choice has a concrete impact on the environment and the community.

A message that Sikuel and Legambiente Sicilia have chosen to build together, uniting technological expertise, environmental awareness, and languages capable of speaking to new generations.

“Environmental education represents one of the most important tools for building more conscious and responsible communities.” – underlined Claudia House, Circular Economy Manager for Legambiente Sicily. “Talking to younger people means sowing a culture of sustainability and promoting behaviours that can genuinely impact the protection of the territory, starting with the attention that everyone must pay to the quality of their own waste separation.”.

The SRR Messina Provincia also strongly supported the initiative, incorporating it into a broader programme of attention towards the themes of sustainability and innovation in waste management.

“In recent years, we have worked to strengthen separate waste collection systems and build an increasingly efficient and sustainable model.” – commented Nino Musca and Giuseppe Mondello, President and General Director of SRR Messina Provincia. “In this journey, shared with Sikuel as a technological partner through the K-TARIP platform, we have introduced not only advanced tools for environmental service management but also a strong cultural investment. And it is precisely from the youngest that we must start.”

Play, interaction and participation: learning while having fun

The webinar was designed with language accessible to children, transforming the theme of waste sorting into a true interactive adventure.

Through characters, challenges, quizzes and dynamics inspired by video games, students have been engaged in real-time in activities designed to make concepts often considered complex immediately understandable.

From the presentations dedicated to the ’Eco-Heroes Academy“ to the challenge against the ”Waste Monster,“ the project used captivating visual storytelling to explain:

• the operation of selective waste collection
• the principle of the circular economy
• the mechanism of pay-as-you-go pricing
• The environmental and economic value of virtuous behaviours

The representation of the “profligate family” and the “eco-hero family” was particularly effective, used to help children understand how correct recycling means producing less undifferentiated waste and contributing to a more equitable system.

Guiding the boys during the webinar was Maria Concetta Lo Coco, psychologist and educator for Legambiente Sicily, who developed and presented the project's educational content.

“To truly engage children, we need to use language that stimulates curiosity and emotion,” explained Lo Coco. “Play allows for spontaneous learning: when a child understands that good recycling can help the environment and even reduce waste, that message becomes stronger and stays with them over time.”

During the meeting, the students actively participated through interactive games and quizzes dedicated to the correct disposal of waste, demonstrating enthusiasm and a strong ability to interact.

Technology, environment, and conscious citizenship

For Per Sikuel, projects like this represent far more than simple awareness-raising activities; they are, instead, contributions to building an environmental culture that combines technological innovation, participation, and collective responsibility.

This is also where the satisfaction from the collaboration developed with Legambiente Sicilia stems from, whom we thank for enthusiastically welcoming the project and for looking after the educational content, as well as for the active participation of SRR Messina Provincia.

Attention to waste separation, in fact, cannot be limited exclusively to operational or regulatory aspects: it must start with the education of new generations, who are increasingly accustomed to using digital tools and interactive learning methods.

This is the same vision that also guides the development of our digital solutions dedicated to environmental services, such as K-TARIP, designed to make pay-as-you-throw waste management simpler, more accurate, and more efficient for both citizens and operators.

Because building more sophisticated collection systems also means creating more aware citizens. And the difference, after all, continues to start right there.