Expansion of the Organic Project reaches 12,000 more families in Porto

Porto Ambiente's pioneering organic waste collection project, which is based on the recovery of organic waste, its transformation into compost and returned to the soil to enrich it, takes another step in its strategy of reaching practically the entire city by the end of 2023, with the extension, in partnership with LIPOR, already in September, to about 12,000 more families in the city of Porto.

In this phase, the areas of Camões street, Alegria, Santos Pousada, Amial, S. Tomé, Costa Cabral and Areosa will be covered, and the adherents will be contacted to clarify any doubts and given

information materials on how the project works, a 7 L bucket for their leftover food and an access card to the container to deposit this waste, as well as a backpack and a vertical vegetable garden.

For ease of access by citizens, the strategy of enlargement of the Organic project also advocates the reinforcement of the number of proximity containers, with an increase in the installation of equipment until the end of this year, to about 650 units.

Through this initiative, the people of Oporto, who have been enthusiastic from the start, have allowed the reduction of waste sent to undifferentiated waste, through the collection of more than 1400 tons of food waste, sent for recovery.

It should be noted that this project is only one of the vectors of Porto's strategy for the management of this type of waste, which involves, first and foremost, reducing and fighting food waste, through initiatives such as the "Right amount", or "Wrap it", by providing, free of charge, biodegradable packaging to restaurants, so that customers can take the leftovers of their meals.

On the other hand, the municipality also provides local bio-waste treatment solutions, such as home composting (with the delivery of more than 2,000 compost bins) and community composting, which simultaneously allows a reduction in costs and environmental impacts associated with centralised treatment. In this context, the two units installed in 2021 in housing clusters, already involve more than 140 families, supported by LIPOR technicians, in the composting process to obtain 100% natural organic compost, later applied in their home gardens.

It should be recalled that the selective collection of organics in Porto began in 2006, in the non-domestic sector and currently has more than 1,200 adherents. In 2018, the door-to-door selective collection of paper, glass, packaging/metal and also organic waste was implemented in an area consisting of single-family homes, which was extended in May this year, with this system also reaching the Antas area. There are already almost 3 thousand adherent families, with a total of 800 t/year of selective collection.

The expansion of bio-waste selective collection is, and will continue to be, a strategic commitment of Porto Ambiente for the promotion of the circular economy and to achieve carbon neutrality in the city, in line with the challenges of the Porto Climate Pact, whose management and coordination the municipal company Porto Ambiente recently assumed.

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