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Description
The issue is to increase the application of the principles of circular economy in specific sectors, in production and consumption, through the implementation of a Deposit and Return System for plastic bottles in all Municipalities in the Oeste Region. The aim of the project consists in awarding a prize to the final consumer in order to promote the return of non-reusable plastic beverage packaging. The bottles will be sent for recycling and for the production high quality recycled material, compatible wiht necessary requisites for incorporation into production of new beverage bottles. The project Oeste + Recicla intends to contribute for general goals of the EEA Grants through the promotion of the circular economy and at the same time supporting the development of inovative and creative projects.
Summary of project results
The Oeste + Recicla Project aims to establish a deposit refund system for non-reusable beverage bottles in Portugal. The objective is to increase the application of circular economy principles in specific sectors, in production and consumption, through the implementation of a system for depositing and returning plastic bottles in all Municipalities in the Western Region involving a partner from Norway – Empower
Activity 1 - Diagnostic StudyElaboration of a diagnostic study on the State of the Art of the Deposit Refund System for plastic bottles with the support of the partner Organization of a field trip to Norway to learn about the donor country''s reimbursement system in order to share and incorporate good practices;Activity 2 - Deposit Reimbursement System Action Plan for plastic bottles in the Western RegionElaboration of an action plan for the Oeste + Recicla project with the integration of good practices, with a view to implementing the pilot project for reimbursing deposits for plastic bottles in the West Region;Activity 3 - Implementation of the Deposit Refund System for bottlesDesign, implementation and testing, through Oeste + Recicla, of a system of incentives for the return of non-reusable plastic beverage packaging;Market research on existing equipment and solutions;Establishing partnerships and drawing up protocols with entities in the beverage industry, companies in the retail sector, companies in the transport sector and entities in the environment and social inclusion sector that will benefit from project donations;Procurement of equipment and solutions through public procurement;Placement of 30 pieces of equipment in the 12 municipalities in the West;Implementation of the collection solution through automatic equipment that allows the refund of the deposit in discount tickets at the supermarket, in the sale of tickets / passes and / or donations to social solidarity institutions;Activity 4 - Communication PlanImplementation of the project''s communication plan;Conducting seminars to present good practices to the twelve municipalities in the Western Region, to OesteCIM and to residents of the Western Region;Event to disseminate deposit refund systems for bottles in the West and other regions of the country with a view to adopting solutions by other public and private bodies;Activity 5 - Project management and evaluationAn evaluation device aimed at managing change and risk control throughout the entire project will be implemented in the project through the methodology recommended by the Project Management Institute. That will allow the permanent monitoring of the implemented processes and services with the objective of identifying and correction of any points of improvement;The project evaluation will be carried out simultaneously with the project management activity, aiming at change management and risk control, through the methodology recommended by the Project Management Institute and will allow:- The follow-up and permanent monitoring of the implemented processes and services with the objective of identifying and correcting any points for improvement;- The final evaluation of the project and preparation of the final report, namely in terms of identifying the expected results in terms of cost-benefit analysis and the degree of achievement of the Program''s indicators;o Tons of recycled plastic resulting from the project;o The number of beverage industry entities participating in the pilot system;o The number of retail companies participating in the system.
The main impacts of the projects were:
- Develop a deposit refund system for non-reusable beverage bottles;
- Increase the application of circular economy principles in the beverage bottle sector;
- The selective collection of non-reusable plastic beverage packaging waste, aiming to achieve a direct positive impact on collection rates, the quality of the material collected and the quality of recycled materials, generating opportunities for the recycling sector and the recycled materials market;
- Promote the involvement of the population, through a communication plan, which disseminates and publicizes the pilot project and which includes information and awareness-raising actions inducing the adoption of sustainable and circular behaviors.
Summary of bilateral results
The promoter and EMPOWER AS, shared knowledges about the development of the deposit refund system for non-reusable beverage bottles given the experience of latter in this area. The partner (EMPOWER AS) have attended several meetings in order to help and share experiences in the implementation of the project.