Retrieved plastic is turned into reusable masks

The initiative promoted by the Water pavilion raises awareness on the importance of rivers and creeks in an urban setting and is held in the framework of the Valorisation Plan and the Rehabilitation of the Waterlines of the Municipality of Porto.

The cleaning of river Rio Tinto was the first of a series of awareness raising initiatives as regards environment education that the Water Pavilion is carrying out, in the scope of the Bandeira Azul 2021 programme. The result of this initiative will be the transformation of plastic into reusable masks.

This initiative took place in the end of May and was held under the PVRLA – Valorisation Plan and the Rehabilitation of the Waterlines of the Municipality of Porto. The motto of such activity was “Transformed residues, protected ecosystems”. The event was attended by the deputy-Mayor of Porto City Hall, Filipe Araújo, and the President of Águas e Energia do Porto, Frederico Fernandes.

The river guards of Águas e Energia do Porto conducted over 1500 monitoring actions in 2020 alone, to the water lines of the river Rio Tinto, warning about any anomalies and cleaning the river beds. At the same time, the population was made aware of “a circular economy whose goal is to transform the collected plastics into reusable masks, produced by Skizo, and made of about 70% recycled plastic, which have also been handed out to the participants”, stated the municipal company.

As a Centre for the “Bandeira Azul”, the Water Pavilion intends to warn about the need to protect and value rivers and creeks in an urban context. This project by the Águas e Energia do Porto, which is included in the Municipal Strategy to Adapt to Climate Change, intends to value and protect the city’s water resources, by reducing its vulnerabilities as regards climate change impact, while assessing priorities and needed investment.

The Valorisation and Rehabilitation Plan of the Water Lines of the Municipality of Porto is financed in about 85% by the programme ”Environment, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy”, in the scope of the EEA Grants 2014-2021, in an investment of over 235 mil euros.

Through the EEA Grants, donor countries such as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, establish a common goal to work together not only to reduce social and economic disparities in Europe but also to strengthen the bilateral relations between the Donor States and the Beneficiaries States.