LIPOR reused 14 thousand tons of material goods in 2020

LIPOR and associated municipalities, including Porto City Hall, were able to reuse 13.719 tons of material goods. This sustainable process was equivalent to saving 700 thousand euros in waste residue treatment and also saved 2.872 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

This assessment is the work of the Observatory for the Prevention of the Generation of Residues, created by LIPOR in 2017, with the support of seven partner entities, which are part of a network that includes 15 entities, in total.

“By covering three sustainability pillars – social, environmental and economic – in 2020, we were able to reuse 13.719 tons of material goods, which were transformed or valued locally, equivalent to saving 684.034 euros, which would have been the cost for waste treatment and 2.872 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is equal to 19.802 round air travels, between Porto and Lisboa”, states the inter municipal company in a press release.

These results were achieved by the joint efforts by eight municipalities within LIPOR, and the 15 partner entities, namely Alexandra Arnóbio - Upcycling Projects, Associação Dariacordar - Zero Desperdício, Banco Alimentar do Porto, Centro Social de Ermesinde, Entrajuda; Fruta Feia - Delegação do Porto, Fruta Feia - Delegação de Matosinhos, Goodafter, Refood - Núcleo Maia Centro, Refood - Núcleo de Ermesinde, Refood - Núcleo Senhora da Hora, Refood - Núcleo Leça da Palmeira, Too Good To Go Vintage for a Cause and LIPOR itself.

The observatory is integrated in the strategy for the Prevention of Residues, headed by LIPOR and its strategic plan involves meeting a set of goals, as the promotion of selective garbage collection, jointly coordinated with the adjacent municipalities, namely Porto, Espinho, Gondomar, Maia, Matosinhos, Póvoa de Varzim, Valongo and Vila do Conde.

Porto Ambiente Municipal Company

Porto has developed that work via the municipal company Porto Ambiente. In October last year, the company has announced the participation in the CityLoops European project, whose target is to reduce the consumption of material and natural resources in the urban milieu, thus promoting the circular economy on a number of fronts.

With a recycling rate of 37% in 2019, the municipal company Porto Ambiente stood out for the results achieved, for example, in the most critical time of the lockdown during the current pandemic, the company's preventive attitude strengthened public space cleaning, recycling bins sanitation, which did not go unnoticed by the population who thanked the workers for their hard work in especially harsh times.

By the end of April, as well, Porto Ambiente invested in suitable collection vehicles and containers to make sure that waste collection was swift and as safe as possible for its staff.

In June 2020, Porto Ambiente was granted the ISO 9001- Quality Management System certification by Apcer, which confirms recognition of its mission regarding waste collection and the cleaning of public spaces, in line with quality service principles, innovation, environmental and economic sustainability.