A woman in Italy’s Puglia region has recovered her one million euro lottery ticket after garbage workers spent more than a day searching through rubbish to find it.

The instant win ticket was found intact after workers from SAMB waste management company combed through mounds of waste on their truck, according to administrator Roberto Nicola Toscano.

The woman, who remains anonymous, went to her local shop on Sunday to check her ticket after the drawing. The machine showed it as “non-payable” because smaller retailers can only redeem small wins.

Unaware she had won the jackpot, she returned home and threw the ticket away. A family member then told her that her regular numbers had won.

They rushed back to the shop but discovered the ticket had been thrown in the bin and the rubbish already collected.

Toscano explained how they traced the ticket’s journey with little hope of finding it. However, they managed to identify the correct truck and stopped it.

Due to potentially dangerous material in the waste, the vehicle was taken to a specialist company equipped for the search.

Workers searched through the rubbish for over a day, finding various tickets and stubs before locating the winning ticket.

“The winner always played the same numbers, as they were associated with a loved one,” Toscano said.

When informed the ticket had been found, the woman cried with emotion, he said.

SAMB is a public agency in Bitonto, outside Bari, meaning the search costs would have been covered by taxpayers. Toscano had the woman sign a promise to cover all additional costs incurred.

ALSO READ: Powerball jackpot soars to R160 million for Tuesday draw