Eight communities in Northern Portugal are benefiting from increased access to convenient, door-to-door recycling collection and other related services, thanks to an EU-funded project. The aim was to get more people to recycle by making it convient for residents.
Northern Portugal increases recycling with more convenient collection
- 02 January 2021
This project reduced the distance between the recycling collection bins and the citizen, thus improving the separation and collection network offered to the population.
The project expanded recycling services in eight municipalities: Espinho, Gondomar, Maia, Matosinhos, Porto, Póvoa de Varzim, Valongo, and Vila do Conde. Door-to-door collection to households and businesses was increased and more bins were made available in public places.
Backed by a robust awareness-building campaign, the project succeeded in collecting 3 800 tonnes of recyclable materials – four times more than what was expected.
By the numbers
In total, the project expanded door-to-door household recycling collection to include an additional 12 450 homes. Each home received either a 40 litre or 140 litre container for collecting mixed waste recycling (paper, carboard, plastics, metals, packaging, and glass). Some communities offered additional bins for biowaste collection.
The project provided door-to-door collection services to nearly 600 businesses and other establishments, in addition to adding 212 more street bins to the region’s network. The project added 11 state-of-the-art collection vehicles to the current fleet and built a new recycling centre in Póvoa de Varzim.
A technology infused communications campaign
The initiative was backed by a multi-faceted communications campaign that aimed to not only raise awareness about the project, but also motivate citizens and businesses to participate. Project coordinators believe the campaign reached nearly 1 million people.
Furthermore, each recycling bin given to a home or business was equipped with a portable ultra-high frequency (UHF) Radio-Frequency ID (RFID) reader that, when used with an application developed by the project, allows authorities to track whose bin belongs to whom.
All collection trucks were outfitted with a UHF RFID that, in conjunction with the readers embedded in the bins, allowed for monitoring of participation in the project and adjustment of awareness-raising efforts.
A resounding success
The project was a resounding success. For starters, it achieved a significant increase in the amount of recyclable materials collected (3 800 tonnes). It reduced the amount of recyclables in the mixed waste stream from 32.5 % in 2017 to 29.4 % in 2019.
As this is the equivalent of 12 000 tonnes of recyclable material being kept out of the community’s energy recovery plant, the project contributed to the reduction of waste management company LIPOR’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Recycling is to Give More - Door to Door and Proximity Selective Collection” is EUR 3 874 646, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 3 239 707 through the “Sustainability and Resource Use Efficiency” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Environment Protection and promotion of resource efficiency”.