Rome has implemented a new initiative aimed to help travelers earn money towards public transportation tickets Tuesday—inserting plastic bottles into an automatic recycling bin.

The city revealed three machines Tuesday, under a one-year test run outside subway stations where passengers could receive five cents for each plastic water bottle they dropped into the bin.

RECYCLING PROGRAMS SEEN AS A WASTE IN MANY COMMUNITIES BECAUSE OF HIGH COSTS, INEFFICIENCIES

Paolo Simioni, Rome’s transportation authority president, said that “in a period in which cryptocurrency is talked about, we have plastic currency."

According to Rome’s transportation authority (ATAC), passengers will receive their earnings in accounts partnered by apps “MyCicero” or “Tabnet”, which can later be redeemed for public transportation trips.

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“Substantially, it’s a system in which one recycles, we build customer loyalty and citizens’ virtuous behavior is rewarded”, Simioni added.

Fox News’ Kira Grant and the Associated Press contributed to this report.