Brazil in World Cup waste recycling push

World Cup organizers said Wednesday that an estimated 320 tons of solid waste which the June 12 to July 13 event is expected to generate will be sent for recycling. The government World Cup web portal said organizers expect each match to generate around five tons of recyclable waste based on the experience of last year's Confederations Cup. Teams of recyclable material pickers, 840 in all, will be deployed across the 12 venues and what they pick up will be sent to recycling cooperatives. Organizers are also rolling out a public awareness campaign aimed at fans as part of a sustainability strategy. The Rio prefecture meanwhile announced that match days in the city would be designated public holidays in an effort to reduce the city's often chaotic traffic flow and facilitate the transport of fans to the Maracana stadium. The prefecture said June 18, when world champions Spain face Chile, and June 25, when France meet Ecuador, would be public holidays as from midday with both games afternoon kick-offs. With Rio hosting a quarter-final on July 4, the whole of that day will be a public holiday, as will the day of the final. The city hosts seven games in all. Football's world governing body FIFA on Tuesday launched a fresh World Cup tickets sales window, with 345,000 up for grabs for 60 of the 64 matches -- excluding the opening match, the final and the two semi-finals. FIFA said 203,330 tickets sold within five hours via www.FIFA.com, with Brazilian fans snapping up 143,085 and US fans buying 16,059.