Three million tonnes of municipal waste end up in landfills every year \u2014 meaning more than half of all waste discarded in Portugal annually \u2014 the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) warned on Monday when launching the second phase of an awareness campaign about this “monumental” problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the tagline “Let’s separate the waste before our future is wasted.”, the campaign adopts a multimedia strategy encompassing television, radio, billboards and digital platforms, aiming to raise awareness among citizens about the urgent need to separate and properly route their household waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the television campaign, a tour guide drives a tuk-tuk through the streets of Lisbon, presenting iconic monuments such as the Pal\u00e1cio Nacional da Ajuda and the Mosteiro dos Jer\u00f3nimos, before revealing an “unexpected monument”: a colossal mass of municipal waste, illustrating the three million tonnes that are deposited in landfills every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The campaign serves as a warning about how poor waste separation is exhausting national landfill capacity and undermining sustainability, according to the APA’s press release. The agency emphasises that the solution is within everyone’s reach and involves the correct separation of glass, plastic and metal packaging, paper and cardboard, as well as bio-waste \u2014 food scraps and garden green waste \u2014 for subsequent recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the height of the sales season, the campaign will include activations at the Colombo Shopping Centre in Lisbon, from 13 to 18 January, and at Norte Shopping (owned by Sonae, which also owns P\u00daBLICO) in Matosinhos, from 27 January to 1 February, with an information space dedicated to bio-waste, educational games for children, and a recycling quiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n