Europe produces about 58 million tons of plastic per year and Portugal contributed with almost 370 thousand tons (Eurostat). 11 060.34 tons of plastic in the West Region, which represents a percentage of 3% of the national total. Currently, plastic bottles are not reused in Portugal, and since they are not reusable, they are preferably sent for recycling.
The objective of the Oeste + Recicla Project is to increase the application of circular economy principles through the implementation of a system for the deposit and return of plastic bottles in the 12 Municipalities of the Western Region involving a partner from Norway - Empower, an experienced entity building a global plastic waste ecosystem based on the same philosophy of the Norwegian bottle deposit system.
Specific objectives of the Oeste + Recicla Project:
• Design, implement and test, through the development of a pilot project in the West region, the future incentive system for the return of non-reusable plastic beverage packaging;
• Negotiate partnerships and develop protocols with entities in the beverage industry, companies in the retail sector, transport sector and entities in the environment and social inclusion sector that will benefit from project donations;
• Install equipment in the 12 Municipalities in the West;
• Implement the collection through automatic equipment that allows the refund of the deposit in discount tickets at the supermarket, in the sale of tickets / passes and / or donations to social solidarity institutions;
• Hold seminars to present good practices to the 12 municipalities in the West Region, OesteCIM and residents of the West Region;
• Develop an event to disseminate deposit refund systems for bottles in the West Region and other regions of the country, to adopt solutions by other public and private entities.
More details about the project can be found here.
The Environment Programme supports this project within the scope of the Call#1, which aims to finance projects that focus on priority areas for reducing plastics in the oceans and promoting awareness of the challenges related to plastics in the oceans and proposing solutions.
Under the EEA Grants 2014-2021, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as donor Countries, finance, in 15 Member States of the European Union, initiatives and projects with the objective of reducing social and economic disparities by strengthening bilateral relations with beneficiary Countries.
Know more about EEA Grants.