Regional Government promotes 14th Waste Week in the Azores

Nov. 27, 2023

The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change, as the coordinating entity of the European Week for Waste Reduction - EWWR for the territory of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, promoted the 14th Azores Waste Week from November 18 to 26. The initiative was part of the 15th European Week for Waste Reduction, which aims to carry out awareness-raising and information actions on waste prevention.

According to the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, the theme selected for 2023 was "Packaging - Don't Let Yourself Get Wrapped Up," with the aim of involving all islands in actions voluntarily organised by public and private entities.

"The European Week for Waste Reduction is an international initiative aimed at promoting the implementation of awareness-raising actions on the sustainable management of resources and waste for one week, with a view to changing the behaviour of European citizens in terms of their consumption patterns and habits," he explained.

According to Alonso Miguel, "packaging is present at every stage of the value chain, from producers to consumers. However, packaging has a huge environmental impact and, in terms of material use, 40% of the plastics and 50% of the paper used in the EU are used for packaging, corresponding to 36% of municipal solid waste at the end of the product's life."

"In our Region, we have a similar situation, with packaging being significantly present in the most diverse aspects of our daily lives. We only need to focus our attention on the items we bring home from a shopping trip to see how much packaging permeates the most basic consumer products on the market," he also said.

The Regional Secretary emphasised that "there is an urgent need to reflect and take action on this matter with a view to finding solutions that should focus on changing people's consumption habits, incorporating the concept of product eco-design, reusing waste, making production chains more efficient and adopting aspects of the circular economy, which will result in more sustainable products."

In the Azores, 143 awareness-raising actions were registered on the EWWR platform, 29 of which took place on Pico Island, 26 on São Miguel Island, 18 on Terceira Island, 15 on Faial Island, 15 on Santa Maria Island, 10 on Graciosa Island, 12 on São Jorge Island, 13 on Flores Island and five on Corvo Island.

"These actions covered the five thematic areas of the EWWR, with a total of 95 proposing entities working within the public administration, local authorities, private companies, waste management entities and operators, educational establishments, associations and non-governmental organisations for the environment and individual citizens. In Europe as a whole, there were 14,552 actions, 489 of which took place in Portugal," he explained.

The Regional Secretary stressed that "the actions included in this initiative at regional level were essentially aimed at raising awareness and informing people about the appropriate management of waste on each island and making them aware of its proper destination, calling for prevention with a view to reducing its production to a minimum, something that is of the utmost importance."

Alonso Miguel expressed great satisfaction at the fact that about 30% of the actions carried out in Portugal took place in the Azores. According to him, "this demonstrates the growing sensitivity and importance given to this issue by the Azorean society, which is quite pertinent," particularly in view of the remoteness of the Region, a fact that poses "additional challenges in terms of waste management."

The government official also stated that "proper waste management and the transition to a circular economy are one of the main goals of the XIII Regional Government of the Azores, which have been achieved through the completion of fundamental tools such as the Roadmap for Circular Economy in the Region and the implementation of the Deposit System for Non-reusable Beverage Packaging in the Azores. From a legislative standpoint, these include the creation of the Strategic Waste Prevention and Waste Management Programme (PEGRA 20+), the revision of the General Scheme for the Prevention and Management of Waste and the approval of the Regional Legislative Decree no. 5/2022/A, of March 4, which establishes measures to reduce the consumption of single-use products."