First Monacollecte event officially opened

Monacollecte. ©Direction de la Communication - Manuel Vitali

On Friday 25 February, H.S.H. Prince Albert II officially opened the first Monacollecte event. Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, and Thomas Battaglione, CEO of the Société Monégasque de l'Electricité et du Gaz (SMEG), were in attendance.

Guided by Thierry Francart, Executive Director of the Monegasque Sanitation Company (SMA), and actor Samuel Le Bihan, the event’s sponsor and founder of Earthwake*, one of the exhibitors, the Sovereign Prince toured the site, explored the various exhibits and chatted to representatives from the various associations.

The first Monacollecte event, organised by the Prince’s Government and SMA, in partnership with Monaco City Hall and MC2D, and held on 25 and 26 February on the Port Hercule esplanade, was designed as a community event focused on the collection and reuse of items as well as waste recycling. It included a number of exhibits to raise public awareness about the issue. Members of the public could also bring along any items that they wanted to get rid of.

Items which could be reused (clothes, toys, books, IT equipment, small electrical appliances, etc.) were given to the charities which had stands at the event. The rest (panes of glass, paint, solvents, gas bottles, electrical and electronic waste, etc.) were earmarked for recycling via SMA’s recycling and treatment facilities. By the end of the event, 12,100 kg of goods, waste and other bulky items had been handed in, including 8,200 kg in donations to charities.

* Founded in 2014, Earthwake works to develop recycling solutions for plastic waste in emerging economies.