RecuperARTI, the association that educates and creates art by recovering waste

Such a simple yet powerful idea could only have come from seven women, all equally strong mothers: Mary Rose Cardino , Antonella Di Pietro , Rossella Gamba , Flor Malavasi Fernandez , Sara Gomarasca , Marina Massaro , and Raffaella Quadrelli. In Pietrasanta, a small town in the province of Lucca, they created RecuperARTI, an association that aims to reduce waste, primarily during various production processes, by recovering and valorizing them. And above all, by making them available to schools for educational activities and to artists for their creative work.

This has established direct contact between companies seeking to dispose of production waste and institutions willing to give it a second life: what companies and factories perceive as "materials destined for disposal" can actually be reinvented through the creativity and imagination of others. Children, adolescents, and artists can use deconstructed materials, transforming them into functional and original objects. 

In particular, RecuperARTI:

• Recover waste and leftovers from companiesProduction materials, errors, and unmarketable stock are collected instead of being thrown away. 
• He makes them available of artists, schools, associations, non-profit organizations and private individuals to create works, workshops and projects. 
• Collaborate with schools, organizing workshops and creative-educational activities based on reuse. 
• Organize workshops and events for children, teenagers and adults, also on artistic and creative techniques. 
•  It has a strong component of environmental education: the goal is to change the way we look at waste, considering it a resource rather than simply waste. 

The project is a candidate for the 2026 Non Sprecare Award, in the Schools and Universities section. To submit your projects, follow the instructions here.

Image source: Facebook

The projects competing for the 2026 Non-Waste Award:

• Grande Impero: the company that turns leftover bread into biogas
• In Italy, Cardioaspirin is produced without plastic.
• Domus De Luna: the association that helps children in every way.