ALMOST EIGHT IN TEN ITALIANS RECYCLE

ALMOST EIGHT IN TEN ITALIANS RECYCLE

(ANSA) - Rome, November 5 - Nearly eight in ten Italians recycle at home, according to a survey released Thursday by the the IPSOS research group.

According to the study, 78% of Italians said they recycled paper, plastic and glass on a regular basis, while 68% said they had no trouble finding reycling bins close to home.

In addition to household recyclers, 64% of Italians said they also recycle on vacation and more than half said they sorted waste at work.

While suggesting headway towards the Italian government's goal of recycling half of all its rubbish, up from 27% this year, the study also highlighted a number of misnomers and bad habits.

Around 75% of Italians said they put unrecyclable store receipts in the paper bin, while 35% thought they could recycle old lottery tickets.

Over 80% of Italians questioned made no attempt to recycle at concerts and sporting events.

But recycling consortium Comieco President Piero Attoma said ''the report is still encouraging and confirms a marked improvement towards waste recycling in Italy''.

Attoma said that Italians recycled 7.1% more paper and cardboard in 2008 than they did in 2007, a difference of some 200,000 tonnes.

According to Attoma, Italy will save itself 170 landfills over the next ten years at the rate it's currently recycling.