ALGAR, the EGF concessionaire for the Algarve region, presented excellent results on the quantities of packaging waste collected. In 2018, the company responsible for the collection and treatment of municipal solid waste in the 16 municipalities of the Algarve reached in the last four months the value of 12,977 t of material collected, representing an exponential growth of 12% corresponding to an increase of 1,353 t year period.

Analysis of the data shows that ALGAR collected a total of 39,543 t of waste from the selective collection activity in 2018. This excellent result is a reference in national terms, as it indicates the separation / disposal of recyclable packaging by the population in ecopoints with a capitation of 89.9 kg / year inhabitants.

For this performance, the investment made by the company in 2018, amounting to 1,415 thousand euros in the acquisition / installation of 781 new ecopoints, distributed in the 16 counties of the Algarve. A very significant project for the region, co-financed by the Operational Program for Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources (POSEUR), Portugal 2020 and the European Union, through the Cohesion Fund.

The placement of the new equipment is already bearing fruit since it allowed a growth of 7 827m3 in the deposition capacity, corresponding to an increase of about 30% in the number of containers made available to the Algarve population. At present, the 16 municipalities of the Algarve can count on a network of about 3 500 ecopoints, which translates into the ratio of one ecopoint per 126 inhabitants.

As a result, from January to December 2018, ALGAR collected approximately 31.8 kg / inhabitant of paper / cardboard for recycling; 35.7 kg / h of glass; 18.6 kg / hr of plastic / metal.

The quantities collected by ALGAR between January and December 2018 were higher than those recorded in the same period of 2017. It should be noted that the collection of undifferentiated waste did not increase in the quantities collected in the year 2018, which indicates a greater adhesion to the selective separation by part of the population.

It was above all with the active, committed and conscious participation of the population that these results were achieved. It was thus verified that the various awareness campaigns promoted by ALGAR, together with the Algarve, were effective and contributed to these results, of which the entire population should be proud.

ALGAR will continue to bet on increasing proximity to the Algarvian municipalities, through environmental education campaigns, with a view to continuous improvement of services provided to the population.