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Description
The issue of the project is to create a living laboratory of incentive systems, which tests different technological solutions and monitors their results, contributing to increase the knowledge about these systems and promote their effectiveness and economic efficiency, in order to prepare the implementation of the deposit system. The project aims to promote the correct use of these systems through an awareness campaign that will go through the municipality of Mafra with events in stores and markets, in schools and other places with the nearby communities. This campaign will make it possible to collect indicators of citizens'' perception of solutions and answer key questions such as the value associated with incentives, accessibility of equipment, among others The Mafra Reciclar a valer + has as is ultimate objective the finding of solutions in the design of incentive systems, which allow defining the standard of deposit systems to be adopted starting January 1, 2022
Summary of project results
As for the Activities 1. Development of system specifications and 2. System implementation were completed, as reported, respectively, in Interim Report 2 (01/02/2021) and Interim Report 3 (15/07/2021). As for activities 3. Operationalization of the system and 4. Monitoring and follow-up, these took place as planned with technical verification and maintenance of equipment occurring whenever necessary, as well as the collection and transportation operations of collected packaging to the sorting and Tratolixo recycling. During the project execution period, whenever necessary, the Promoter and Partners held meetings to evaluate the results obtained, which also supported the definition of communication activities to be carried out to increase the results associated with the project.
In operational terms, since April 27, 2021 and until June 30, 2022, the 12 RVM machines for collecting used plastic and aluminum beverage packaging are in full operation and available to the public. Since then, the monitoring and monitoring of equipment has been carried out continuously, which has allowed us to know the quantities and types of packaging collected, as well as solving possible occurrences in a short space of time.Quantitatively, during the 14 months in which the machines were available to the public as part of this project, more than 2.5 million used beverage containers were collected. Of these, 82% were PET and 18% aluminum. Globally, packaging units collected increased by an average of 12% per month. In terms of project execution, 18% of the established objective was achieved (14 million units collected). The following table presents the final results achieved until June 2022, whose accumulated evolution over the 14 months of execution. The dissemination activities carried out within the scope of the project followed the strategy and obligations defined in the communication plan, in particular, with regard to audiovisual material, publications and relations with the media. Regarding the objective regarding the number of packaging units expected to be collected (14 million units), it appears that the objective set was too ambitious, with the project even presenting the best results among the financed projects. It should be emphasized that the knowledge obtained from the execution of the “MAFRA Reciclar a Valer +” project will be very important to support the implementation of the deposit system to be implemented in Portugal.
With the end of Project 08_CALL#1 – MAFRA Reciclar a vale +, carried out between August 2020 and June 2022, a survey was made of the expenses incurred by the Promoter and partners to proceed with the third and final reimbursement request, having verified differences in the execution of activities and partners compared to the initial budget. The project contributed to the EEA Grants objectives of “Promoting a Circular Economy” mainly through the direct involvement of Beverage Industry Entities (Electrão and Novo Verde), and companies in the retail sector (Lidl, Pingo Doce and Minipreço) in the implementation of a Pilot System. These actors proved to be fundamental in the success of the development of the deposit system, due to their active participation in testing different technological solutions, thus contributing to increasing knowledge about equipment available for packaging collection.Since the installation of the RVM machines in the 12 locations associated with the project, more than 2.5 million packages have been collected, 82% of which are made of PET and 18% of aluminum. This result has meant that around 63.4 tonnes of plastic and aluminum have already been accumulated to be recycled, which demonstrates the contribution that the ''MAFRA Reciclar a Valer +'' project will make towards the objective established by EEA Grants, with regard to the amount of recycled plastic. Overall, there were activities with expenses above the expected budget with the purpose of guaranteeing the maximum success of the “MAFRA Reciclar a vale +” project, as well as guaranteeing the viability and usefulness in the future of the investments made. On the other hand, there were activities with expenses lower than initially planned, but which were carried out within the maximum limits that the experimental nature of the project allowed and required, ensuring compliance with the objectives.With the end of the work, it is safe to say that this was one of the projects with the best results, which made good use of investments and the development of actions adapted to reality and always focusing on the objectives. Therefore, we deserve to request the reprogramming of the budget, which is based on the reallocation of amounts between activities, without exceeding the overall approved amount of the budget.