BASE, our local refuse collection and recycling company, moved this August 3rd from their former location at the beginning of the road to Lugliano to Le Ravacce which is a couple of kilometres from Bagni di Lucca on the Brennero road leading to Abetone.
The turn-off to the left if you are coming from Bagni di Lucca Villa is marked by this old industrial water pump relic.
I always thought that the old ‘isola ecologica’ was a load of (wait for it…) rubbish. The building used an old paper mill rented by the company and was not particularly well organised. Plans to move to a new site were already made in 2019 but it is only this month that they have been carried out.
At Ravacce all is changed for the better. A purpose-built ‘isola ecologica,’ it has well-defined areas for different types of material.
Most of this is, of course, collected by that misnamed ‘door-to-door’ weekly collection on defined weekdays for plastic, metal, papers or kitchen waste. It’s misnamed because in many cases (e.g. ours) the collection is certainly not ‘porta a porta’ or ‘door to door’, especially when one has to cart the wheeless bins down steep village lanes to reach the collection point.
Actually this last problem has been solved for us thanks to my wife’s brilliant idea of using an old shopping basket trolley. Here is Sandra is giving its test run.
Le Ravacce web page is at
https://www.bagnidiluccaservizi.it/
The centre’s opening hours are from 8:30 to 11:50 from Monday to Saturday.
The following categories of waste materials are permitted for collection at the centre (together with their code numbers).
200127 – Paints, inks, adhesives and resins containing dangerous substances
080318 – Waste printing toner other than those of heading 080317
150101 – Paper and cardboard packaging
150106 – Packaging in mixed material (light multi-material)
150107 – Glass packaging
160505 – Gas in pressurized containers (fire extinguishers)
160601 – Lead acid batteries
160604 – Alkaline batteries
170904 – Mixed waste from construction and demolition activities
200108 – Biodegradable waste from canteens and kitchens (wet)
200121 – Fluorescent tubes and other mercury-containing waste
200123 – Discarded equipment containing CFCs.
200125 – Edible oils and fats
200126 – Used mineral oils and fats
200132 – Out-of-date medicines
200133 – Batteries and accumulators
200135 – Discarded electrical equipment (TVs and monitors)
200136 – Electrical and electronic equipment (Small appliances)
200138 – Wood not containing dangerous substances
200140 – Metals
200201 – Biodegradable waste (garden and grass clippings)
200307 – Bulky waste (bedsteads etc.)
The centre has the now sadly obligatory instructions relating to Covid-19 for users (my translation).
To protect the safety of users and operators contagion prevention operating rules apply. Access will be allowed only to single persons and security measures provided by the operators must be strictly respected at all times; the minimum interpersonal safety distance of 1.8 meters must always be observed. If waiting, one must remain in one’s vehicle. Wearing masks is compulsory and any kind of contact with the operator must be avoided.
As the centre’s boss proudly proclaimed to us. “We now have the centre we deserve.” I’m quite sure they do now!
(…although we feel a little sorry for the owners of this house on the approach to the ‘isola ecologica’.)
