An Italian lottery player accidentally threw away a €1m winning ticket after being told it was "non-payable", prompting a two-day search through trash collected by a bin lorry. The mix-up occurred because the prize was too high to be paid out at the shop, and the family only realized their mistake when they saw their favourite numbers had been drawn. After locating the bin lorry, waste workers spent 48 hours searching its contents before finding the winning ticket in a damaged bag on Tuesday morning. The cost of the recovery operation will reportedly be charged to the winner, who had previously signed a declaration promising to cover the costs.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In Bitonto, southern Italy, a lottery player accidentally threw away a €1m winning ticket, worth approximately £857,158. The player, whose identity remains unknown, checked their numbers at a shop and was told the ticket was "non-payable", when in fact it was a prize too high to be paid out by the shop. After a family member pointed out that their usual lucky numbers - 2, 4, 8, 10, and 51 - had been drawn, they returned to the shop to discover that the ticket had indeed been discarded with the trash. The refuse company, SANB, conducted a two-day search through a large pile of collected waste, led by director Roberto Nicola Toscano, who described the situation as "nothing short of miraculous". The player's good fortune was made possible by the diligent work of waste workers who eventually found the ticket and returned it to its rightful owner.
Written for “Lost Lottery Ticket Found” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
A lottery player who accidentally binned a €1m (£857,158) winning-ticket may be the luckiest person in Italy after refuse workers found the missing slip.
uncertain
workers → publish → slip
The anonymous player disposed of the ticket in a shop in Bitonto, southern Italy, after checking their numbers and being told it was "non-payable".
asserted
it → dispose → numbers
The person only realised they threw away a winning ticket after a relative pointed out the numbers they always played had been drawn.
asserted
they → realise → ticket
It sparked a two-day search through a "mountain of waste" which had been collected by a bin lorry, the head of the refuse company, Roberto Nicola Toscano, told Italian news agency Ansa.
asserted
head → spark → Ansa
"This story is nothing short of miraculous," he added.
asserted
he → add → ?
Recounting the story, he said the mix-up happened because the "non-payable" message appears when the prize is too high to be paid out by the shop.
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prize → recount → shop
When the player returned home, their family reportedly pointed out their favourite numbers - 2, 4, 8, 10, and 51 - had been drawn.
uncertain
numbers → return → ?
"It was then that they realised the misunderstanding.
asserted
they → realise → misunderstanding
So they all went to the shop together and discovered that the tickets had been thrown away and collected by one of our operators," said Toscano, director of SANB who handles waste collection in the area.
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who → go → area
After the player made contact with the refuse company, the bin lorry was located before its contents were compacted for disposal.
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contents → make → disposal
"Luckily it was a Sunday, otherwise the load would have already ended up in landfill," the boss told Italian broadcaster TGCOM24.
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boss → end → TGCOM24
The truck was then escorted to a special site where the search began to find the "small piece of paper hidden in a mountain of waste".
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search → escort → waste
Finally after a two-day search, the winning ticket was reportedly found by a waste worker on Tuesday morning, with the workers cheering as if they had won the prize themselves.
"It was in a hole-ridden bag along with other damaged tickets: this was one of the few intact ones," Toscano told Ansa.
uncertain
Toscano → win → Ansa
The cost of the recovery operation is set to be charged to the winner, who had previously signed a declaration promising to cover the search costs.
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who → set → costs
Toscano told BBC News that he was not authorised to reveal any details on the identity of the winner.
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he → tell → winner
But the luck rubbed off - when Toscano and his colleagues bought a scratch card as a joke, they won €50 (£43).
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they → rub → 50
