EGF, a MOTA-ENGILcompany responsible for the treatment and recovery of urban waste in 174 municipalities in Portugal, recorded, in the first half of 2020, an increase in selective collection of 7% compared to the same period of 2019.

The figures for the 1st semester are marked by the pandemic - in the first two months of the year companies were registering very significant increases in selective collection, in the order of 19%.

With the pandemic and confinement, the figures for the first semester show that the reception of undifferentiated waste decreased by 3%, but that, even so, the selective collection increased by 7%.

This growth in selective collection, which was expected to be greater before the pandemic, results from a high investment program carried out, integrated into concessionaires applications, co-financed by the Operational Program for Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources (POSEUR), and the priority given to selective collection activity of packaging waste, remodeling and modernization of infrastructures and awareness campaigns among the population, which resulted in an effective and growing participation of citizens in the recycling habits. The EGF companies that registered the highest growth were Amarsul (33%), Suldouro (25%) and Resinorte (23%).

As for common/household waste a 3% decrease was registered with significant differences between companies that grew and others that decreased in growth compared to the same period of 2019. These differences are explained by the drastic decline in tourism, the shortage in commercial activity, displacement of populations to nearby municipalities in homeworking activities and the decrease in bulky waste collection.

Analyzing the figures for the first half of EGF, it can be said that in the beginning of 2020, a year of greater recycling growth was anticipated in Portugal, but this evolution is being conditioned by the pandemic by COVID19.