Italian lottery ticket recovered from trash

In late July 2026 a construction worker in Veneto won €5 million, and days later a woman in Bitonto, Puglia, discarded what she thought was a non‑payable ticket that was actually the €1 million Million Day jackpot. The retail terminal displayed a “non‑payable” message because small shops cannot dispense such large prizes, flagging the ticket for higher‑level processing. After a family member alerted her, she contacted SANB, the regional waste‑management agency. Director Roberto Nicola Toscano traced the garbage truck, halted it and moved the load to a specialist sorting facility. Over more than a day, workers sifted through tons of waste and recovered the ticket intact. The search lasted two days; the prize was later confirmed at €1.64 million (winning numbers 2‑4‑8‑10‑51). The winner was informed by phone, broke down in tears, and agreed to reimburse the recovery costs, which otherwise would have fallen to taxpayers. The episode underscores the limits of small‑shop payout rules and the effectiveness of inter‑agency cooperation in rescuing high‑value lottery tickets.