by Ariel Miller, ESRAG Newsletter Editor
Circular Economy in Milan: Turning E-Waste into Opportunity
The Rotaract Club of Milano Sforza is winning international recognition for RigeneraMI, its high-impact, low-cost solution to the growing crisis of e-waste. Partnering with several Italian Rotary Clubs and the Rotaract Club Città Metropolitana di Milano, they solicit donations of used PCs and tablets, refurbish them, and donate them to schools and nonprofits who need them. You can translate “RigeneraMi” as “fix me up!” in English, but the clever project name also honours the Club’s home city of Milan, which is abbreviated “MI.”
Duo repairing and advancing Circular Economy
“Our focus on e-waste was entirely serendipitous,” explains Rotaractor Elisabetta Cervellini. “Initially, our only focus for the project was digital inclusion. We had a standing collaboration with a nursing home, where we would go and teach senior citizens how to use phones and tablets so that they could be independent, FaceTime with their families, and fight boredom.
“Secondly, RigeneraMI was born in 2021, on the backhand of the pandemic. Something that captured our attention was the fact that the computer had become a basic need. Each child needed their own device to follow school, and each adult needed their device to work. However, if you’re from a poor family and have two or three kids, that means every kid needs to have their device, and that can get very costly. Therefore, we wanted to find a way to refurbish used computers and give them to those in need for free. It was only later that we realized the huge potential of the project around sustainability and waste reduction.”
For an average cost of only €30-100 per device, by June of 2024, RigeneraMI volunteers had restored and donated 271 desktops, laptops, and tablets and delivered them to communities in Italy, Norway, Guinea Bissau, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They have been able to get diplomats or NGO staff to carry devices to the African countries, saving on shipping costs.
Rotaractors making strides towards climate action
This circular economy project is a powerful climate action. “The average CO2 emissions during the production of a new laptop are approximately 331 kg, along with the extraction of 1,200 kg of stones, gravel, residues, and slag,” the Rotaractors explain in a White Paper about the project. In just three years, they calculate that they have prevented 71,827 kg of CO2 emissions by restoring 217 devices- 83.55% of those donated to date!
Rotarians repairing devices
One beneficiary was a middle school in Reggio Calabria which was robbed of all its computers in 2023, including devices essential to the education of children with disabilities. After this calamity, the school “reached out to us and we were able to immediately send a batch of devices their way,” says Elisabetta Cervellini. “We have a designated person on the team who is responsible for scouting for associations needing devices, but it happens just as often that it’s them reaching out to us, thanks to the Rotary-wide network.” After this donation, RigeneraMI was invited to make a presentation to the Government of Calabria, including the Regional President and Minister of Education.
On July 10, 2024, Rotaractors Beatrice Bella and Elisabetta Cervellini presented the project design and its impact on the worldwide Network of Rotary Eco, Environment, and Green Clubs, generating great excitement. The Italian Rotaractors explained the key ingredients: volunteers with the right skills (including computer repair, administration, and logistics), work and storage space, tools, and funding to buy computer parts.
Rotaractors repairing devices
The City of Milan provides the program space pro bono. “Quite simply, we knew someone working in the city’s administration, and we reached out to them to provide us with a space to regenerate and store our devices. They found us a place free of charge and asked us to partner with them,” says Cervellini. She and Bella emphasized that it’s essential to have access to a vehicle to pick up donations and deliver restored PCs.
Working with fellow volunteers from other partner Clubs, the Rotaractors solicit donations of used devices. They apply criteria to decide which are worth refurbishing. Volunteers clean those selected, replace faulty components, restore the software, and test them to ensure they are functioning. Devices that don’t meet the selection criteria are taken to hubs that properly recycle e-waste.
ESRAG represented at COP 28
Since launching the project in 2021, the Rotaractors have already won two Best Service awards in Rotaract District 2041 and were showcased as a model for climate action and digital inclusion by ESRAG at COP 28 in Dubai. RigeneraMI was also chosen as the official social project for EUCO 2023 Milano, that year’s main Rotaract Convention for Europe. They also received a district grant for the project, becoming one of the first Italian Rotaract Clubs to win a district grant as lead club.
Rotaractors in Action
“We were lucky that so many Rotary clubs understood how game-changing this project was,” says Cervellini. “The project encompasses the key aspect of being a Rotarian: using your professional skills to help your community. The power of this volunteering activity is that it manages to unite people in many ways because the project consists of many steps that are replicable by anyone. Just think: sometimes even Rotarians’ children come to the activity because they enjoy learning how to rebuild computers! But it’s fair to say we were positively surprised by how much traction the project got.”
Up to this year, most of the devices have been donated by Rotarians. “However that is something we are looking to change, having nearly ‘extinguished’ our Rotarian network,” says Elisabetta Cervellini. “Our goal is to expand to companies, and we have a person on the team who is responsible for soliciting companies to donate their old devices.”
The Rotaractors are happy to correspond with other clubs who would like to replicate RigeneraMI. You can reach them at info@rigenerami.org
