In Portugal, I think things are simpler, and it works well, as far as I know. I'm not sure what percentage of the recycled material is used for new products, and what goes to waste or exported (if any), but I do know that a big part is used for making new products.
We have a wide network of ecobins all over the place, which are a set of three containers of different colors for the delivery of materials according to color:
- Yellow for plastic and metal packaging
- Blue for paper, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, and writing paper
- Green for glass packaging.
In some ecobins there is also a small red container for used batteries.
Additionally to this, many cities have programs for collecting recyclables door-to-door. The city offers each house some proper bins for each type/color, and on each day of the week the city services collect the recyclables for a particular color (yellow, blue, or green). In these programs, there are 2 additional bins/colors: Brown for organic materials, and Grey for generic garbage.
The instructions for the type of material for each bin are very simple, as shown above, and there are few exceptions:
- They don't distinguish types of plastic or paper, but milk and juices packages go to the yellow bin (plastics) since it is considered plastic.
- Plastic packaging don't need to be washed/cleaned, because they pass through a washing process at the recycling stations.
- Plasticized paper, paper tissues, and napkins, and paper with grease shouldn't be recycled, and go into generic garbage.
To complete the whole system, in most shopping malls and big stores, and also spread across the cities (although in much smaller numbers), there are other bins specifically for lamps, small appliances, and oils, since all of these demand special treatment.
And ultimately, there are big Ecocenters, which are facilities where people can deposit all the materials above, as well as virtually everything else (furniture, big appliances, gardening residues, etc.).
To sum up, I think the process is quite good on paper, although ultimately it relies on the cooperation of citizens, which not always happens. There are practically no incentives for recycling, except for the campaigns alerting about the importance of this process, but I guess some material or monetary incentives would bring good results.
It's very interesting the different approaches and systems (and even principles) that each country uses for recycling, thanks for writing about this.
Fascinating how Portugal chooses to put milk and juice cartons in plastic! I wonder if ot is separated somehow afterwards. Thanks for sharing this in depth description of how recycling works in your part of the world, it seems like Portugal has got a good system indeed 😊
Recycling!!! As the recycling consultant / police of my family I fully feel the frustration. It’s especially bad in Japan with 9 categories of “waste”. The recycling numbers look good here but it’s misleading because one - the top number, excessive use of plastic, is not being addressed. Two - there is a lot of contamination because of the way too detailed categorization like plastic bottle must be separate from its cap… Three - once plastic is recycled, a lot of it is burnt to generate thermal energy anyway… and what I cannot believe is there is frequently no paper recycling in offices … all in all feeling discouraged when I get upset about people not recycling properly and they say well no one does it properly so they all go to the trash anyways 😭
9 categories? no paper recycling??? Nuts. Sounds hard to do the right thing? I always shake my head at Asian candies who love to do the “individual wrapped candies in a larger bag” kinda thing... you buy more waste than candies sometimes!!
Shoutout to all the recycling consultants/police out there doing the good work of recycling advocacy 🙏🙏
LOVED this post, Fei! Reducing Waste, Recycling and Repurposing are near and dear to me. I used to 'monitor' by taking out recyclables from the garbage or organic bins in the office kitchenette area. It's all very daunting and confusing to say the least. Did you know that the City of Hamilton accepts Tim cups in organics? In Peel Region, that goes into garbage. Fast food places show items as recyclables but they actually go into garbage. Also, if there is any unwashed recyclable, it contaminates the rest in the bag so it all goes to garbage! I agree the municipalities and all organizations involved need to do a better, more coordinated job to make it as easy as possible for inhabitants to recycle. Manufacturers and producers have a big responsibility to reduce waste and make recycling easy for cities and municipalities. Unfortunately, this is not happening. I read somewhere that the creator of the coffee pod regrets his invention due to the massive mounds of garbage produced. Some companies (eg PC) have created compostible coffee pods. One of the things that irk me is why compostibles (utensils, takeaway containers etc.) have to be garbaged instead of going into organics? What's the point of making things compostible if they are not composted?
A hundred thousand percent this 👆 lol I didn’t even bother getting into the nuances of regional dysfunction here in the GTA but it is real. Recycling should be standardized on the provincial level imo. Municipal level is too granular, why do different munis need to reinvent the wheel? Tim Hortons cups are THE SAME wherever you go. It’s like our environment is conspiring against recycling culture by making up arbitrary rules!
In Portugal, I think things are simpler, and it works well, as far as I know. I'm not sure what percentage of the recycled material is used for new products, and what goes to waste or exported (if any), but I do know that a big part is used for making new products.
We have a wide network of ecobins all over the place, which are a set of three containers of different colors for the delivery of materials according to color:
- Yellow for plastic and metal packaging
- Blue for paper, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, and writing paper
- Green for glass packaging.
In some ecobins there is also a small red container for used batteries.
Additionally to this, many cities have programs for collecting recyclables door-to-door. The city offers each house some proper bins for each type/color, and on each day of the week the city services collect the recyclables for a particular color (yellow, blue, or green). In these programs, there are 2 additional bins/colors: Brown for organic materials, and Grey for generic garbage.
The instructions for the type of material for each bin are very simple, as shown above, and there are few exceptions:
- They don't distinguish types of plastic or paper, but milk and juices packages go to the yellow bin (plastics) since it is considered plastic.
- Plastic packaging don't need to be washed/cleaned, because they pass through a washing process at the recycling stations.
- Plasticized paper, paper tissues, and napkins, and paper with grease shouldn't be recycled, and go into generic garbage.
To complete the whole system, in most shopping malls and big stores, and also spread across the cities (although in much smaller numbers), there are other bins specifically for lamps, small appliances, and oils, since all of these demand special treatment.
And ultimately, there are big Ecocenters, which are facilities where people can deposit all the materials above, as well as virtually everything else (furniture, big appliances, gardening residues, etc.).
To sum up, I think the process is quite good on paper, although ultimately it relies on the cooperation of citizens, which not always happens. There are practically no incentives for recycling, except for the campaigns alerting about the importance of this process, but I guess some material or monetary incentives would bring good results.
It's very interesting the different approaches and systems (and even principles) that each country uses for recycling, thanks for writing about this.
Loved the post, as always. :)
Fascinating how Portugal chooses to put milk and juice cartons in plastic! I wonder if ot is separated somehow afterwards. Thanks for sharing this in depth description of how recycling works in your part of the world, it seems like Portugal has got a good system indeed 😊
Recycling!!! As the recycling consultant / police of my family I fully feel the frustration. It’s especially bad in Japan with 9 categories of “waste”. The recycling numbers look good here but it’s misleading because one - the top number, excessive use of plastic, is not being addressed. Two - there is a lot of contamination because of the way too detailed categorization like plastic bottle must be separate from its cap… Three - once plastic is recycled, a lot of it is burnt to generate thermal energy anyway… and what I cannot believe is there is frequently no paper recycling in offices … all in all feeling discouraged when I get upset about people not recycling properly and they say well no one does it properly so they all go to the trash anyways 😭
Oh and thank you for the shoutout 🙏🙏🙏
9 categories? no paper recycling??? Nuts. Sounds hard to do the right thing? I always shake my head at Asian candies who love to do the “individual wrapped candies in a larger bag” kinda thing... you buy more waste than candies sometimes!!
Shoutout to all the recycling consultants/police out there doing the good work of recycling advocacy 🙏🙏
And you’re welcome 😃
haha don't get me started on the overly wrapped candies lol... I tell them to leave it in the simple packaging and they look at me like I'm a savage 😂
LOVED this post, Fei! Reducing Waste, Recycling and Repurposing are near and dear to me. I used to 'monitor' by taking out recyclables from the garbage or organic bins in the office kitchenette area. It's all very daunting and confusing to say the least. Did you know that the City of Hamilton accepts Tim cups in organics? In Peel Region, that goes into garbage. Fast food places show items as recyclables but they actually go into garbage. Also, if there is any unwashed recyclable, it contaminates the rest in the bag so it all goes to garbage! I agree the municipalities and all organizations involved need to do a better, more coordinated job to make it as easy as possible for inhabitants to recycle. Manufacturers and producers have a big responsibility to reduce waste and make recycling easy for cities and municipalities. Unfortunately, this is not happening. I read somewhere that the creator of the coffee pod regrets his invention due to the massive mounds of garbage produced. Some companies (eg PC) have created compostible coffee pods. One of the things that irk me is why compostibles (utensils, takeaway containers etc.) have to be garbaged instead of going into organics? What's the point of making things compostible if they are not composted?
A hundred thousand percent this 👆 lol I didn’t even bother getting into the nuances of regional dysfunction here in the GTA but it is real. Recycling should be standardized on the provincial level imo. Municipal level is too granular, why do different munis need to reinvent the wheel? Tim Hortons cups are THE SAME wherever you go. It’s like our environment is conspiring against recycling culture by making up arbitrary rules!