ITALY: The RAEE4Comics competition – a national creative initiative that turned the theme of e-waste recycling into a compelling comic book story
This initiative, promoted by the WEEE Coordination Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Rai Radio Kids, engaged hundreds of young students from Italy in storytelling and illustration focused on environmental protection and the responsible management of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment).
RAEE4Comics Contest represents a unique opportunity for young people with a passion for graphic novels to transform stories about the recycling of WEEE into successful comics. RAEE4Comics thus achieves its goal: to spread the culture of the circular economy and recycling through visual storytelling, transforming comics into a tool for education and social change, capable of speaking to young people with a direct, creative and contemporary language.
This year, RAEE4Comics involved over 100 young cartoonists under 30 from across Italy, inviting them to use comics to illustrate the importance of collecting and properly disposing of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The project successfully combined scientific dissemination and environmental awareness with pop culture, offering participants a concrete opportunity to apply their creative talents to sustainability
During the 2025 Giffoni Film Festival (21st of July), the winner of the RAEE4Comics competition was officially announced. First place went to Salvatore Amico, a 23-year-old Sicilian, which story offers a profound reflection on the importance of letting go, through a striking comparison between objects and relationships. Every end-of-life product has its own story, a value that is not lost, but transformed into new objects, new opportunities. The story commitment, ensures that WEEE is not forgotten in a drawer, but recycled and the materials it is composed of returned to the production cycle, giving it a second life and thus contributing to a true circular economy.
Comics and recycling? A perfect match!
For projects like eWAsTER, which promote policy and behavioral change across the Mediterranean, these campaigns offer a valuable synergy: raising awareness from the bottom up through creativity and participation.
Read more here:
- https://erion.it/it/news/giffoni-film-festival-erion-weee-proclama-il-vincitore-di-raee4comics-il-concorso-che-trasforma-il-riciclo-in-una-storia-a-fumetti/
- https://www.recoverweb.it/raee4comics-fumetti-per-sensibilizzare-la-genz-sul-riciclo/
Pictures sources: Erion WEEE
✍️News, prepared by: Project partner – Union of the Municipalities Pian del Bruscolo (UCPB), Italy
