More than 21 thousand tons of garbage in Greater Lisbon between Christmas and New Year
Garbage collection between Christmas and the end of the year increased this year, with residents of Greater Lisbon producing more than 21,000 tons in a week and those in Porto exceeding 10,000 tons.
The 1.6 million inhabitants of the 19 municipalities between Lisbon and Alcobaça dumped 21,646 tonnes of waste between December 23 and 31, according to data provided to Lusa by Valorsul.
The company’s technical director, Filipa Pantaleão, explains that “this is an atypical week”, as well as the entire month of December and January, when garbage collection increases.
However, compared to the same period of the previous year, there is an increase of 1,045 tons collected in Alcobaça, Alenquer, Amadora, Arruda dos Vinhos, Azambuja, Bombarral, Cadaval, Caldas da Rainha, Lisbon, Loures, Lourinhã, Nazaré, Óbidos , Odivelas, Peniche, Rio Maior, Sobral de Monte Agraço, Torres Vedras, Vila Franca de Xira.
On average, each inhabitant of these areas was responsible for 13.5 kilos of garbage in the last week of the year, ignoring European recommendations and warnings from environmental associations about the need to reduce the production of garbage.
The “neighbors” of Cascais, Oeiras, Sintra and Mafra were less polluting, according to the company that handles waste in these four municipalities. In the last week of the year, Tratolixo received 7,212 tons from its 860,000 inhabitants, which is an average of eight kilograms of garbage per resident.
north
In the north, the numbers point to ten kilos of garbage per person in the week between Christmas and the end of the year, according to an average calculated for the waste that arrived at Lipor’s facilities.
The approximately one million residents of Porto, Espinho, Gondomar, Maia, Matosinhos, Povoa do Varzim, Valongo and Vila do Conde threw away 10,095 tons between the 25th and 31st of December, according to data provided to Lusa by Lipor.
Comparing with the previous year, from north to south of the country there was an increase in garbage: Valorsul received 1,045 more tons than in 2021, Tratolixo more 331 tons and Lipor more 242 tons.
The vast majority continues to be undifferentiated urban waste. For example, at Valorsul, of the 21 thousand tons collected in a week, more than 18 thousand were undifferentiated waste.
However, treatment companies prefer to point to the large growth of waste with recyclable potential.
Between one week of Christmas 2021 and 2022, 590 more tons of undifferentiated waste arrived at Valorsul and another 800 tons of recyclable materials.
“People are recycling more and the projects are giving results”, corroborates the person responsible for implementing Lipor’s Operational Projects, Filipe Carneiro.
Thus, between Christmas and the end of 2022, Valorsul received 1,297 tons of paper and cardboard to be recycled, Tratolixo received another 429 tons and Lipor 614 tons.
Plastic and metal packaging registered an increase (another 20% at Valorsul and another 10% at Lipor and Tratolixo), but the star is the collection of food scraps: It grew by more than 16% at Lipor and another 36% at Valorsul.
However, Filipa Pantaleão recalls that “food bio-waste still has enormous potential for growth and that is what needs to be worked on in order to achieve the goals in Portugal”.
The collection of biowaste is in the hands of municipalities, which have until the end of the year to enforce the new European rules that encouraged such collection. If spaces such as hotels and restaurants are already used to making this separation, in private homes this is still a little used practice.
But awareness campaigns are already on the ground. Tratolixo recalls, on its page, that “a kilogram of food scraps can produce half a kilogram of compost that can replace fertilizer ingredients in agriculture”.
Annually, Valorsul receives around 40,000 tonnes a year which it transforms into electricity and fertilizer, the director tells Lusa.
According to data from Tratolixo, on average, each person throws away 200 kilos of food scraps per year, and the annual production of food scraps by just one family produces enough electricity for the consumption of an LED TV for three months.