Valorpneu
Valorpneu is a non-profit company, licensed by the Portuguese State, that manages the collection and treatment of used tyres. It has run the…
Upcycling & Repurposing
One thing's end is another's beginning: furniture reborn at Atelier Janela Velha, coffee grounds grown into food at NÃM Mushroom Farm, and material reuse from United to Remake. Waste as raw material.
Projects in this focus
Repair Café Algarve
Repair Café Algarve is a project created and organized by Associação Benfazer. Its team of repairers participate in events throughout the Al…
Ownever
Ownever is a Portuguese luxury handbag house built around endangered craftsmanship, working directly with artisans to create pieces designed…
EcoPorto - Porto Ambiente
EcoPorto is Porto Ambiente's centre for urban circularity, running a donation marketplace and home collection service that gives discarded o…
REPLAY - Recolha e Reciclagem Criativa de Brinquedos
REPLAY is a Portuguese project that collects end-of-life toys and creatively recycles their plastic and other materials into new objects, ta…
Vada
Vada is a Portuguese upcycling brand that transforms discarded automotive and bicycle tires and inner tubes into handmade, eco-friendly bags…
Jinja
Jinja is a sustainable design brand in Porto, founded in 2012 by Norma Silva. It makes handmade home products from reused industrial textile…
Olivedogma
Olive Dogma, a circular economy project in Ourém, turns olive tree pruning offcuts into natural olive-wood chew sticks for dogs, soaked in o…
The Loop Co.
The Loop Co. is a Portuguese group of companies that began as a University of Coimbra spin-off. It develops circular economy platforms such …
Vintage for a Cause
A circular fashion brand from Porto that upcycles textile waste into original clothing and gives unemployed women over 50 work in the proces…
Hoooked Portugal
Hoooked Portugal, based in Zibreira, Torres Novas, makes 100% recycled yarn from fashion industry waste. Its yarns are for crochet, knitting…
Tinctorium Studio
Tinctorium Studio is a natural dye and eco-print atelier near Lisbon that makes one-of-a-kind wearable art from locally foraged and permacul…
United to Remake (U2R)
United to Remake (U2R) is a Portuguese social innovation startup that works with brands and organisations to upcycle discarded materials, fr…
Circular Economy Portugal
Circular Economy Portugal is a non-profit association promoting the transition to a circular economy in Portugal. It does this through capac…
Sugo Cork Rugs
Founded in 2017 by textile designer Susana Godinho, Sugo Cork Rugs handweaves bespoke rugs from cork in Espargo, Portugal, combining traditi…
Atelier Janela Velha
An upcycling atelier in Torres Vedras, founded by Margarida Vieira, that makes handmade jewellery and slow fashion and restores furniture, a…
Electrão
Electrão is Portugal's largest waste management compliance organisation and the only one managing recycling systems for three waste streams:…
Burel Factory
Burel Factory is a Portuguese brand born in the Serra da Estrela, dedicated to preserving and innovating the traditional burel wool textile …
Upcycling and repurposing in Portugal
Recycling breaks a material down; upcycling keeps its shape and gives it another job. That distinction matters most in textiles and packaging, where breaking down costs more energy than the material is worth.
United to Remake turns discarded neoprene and similar materials into new products near Lisbon. Vintage for a Cause makes clothing from textile waste in Porto. Hoooked spins recycled yarn near Torres Novas, NÃM grows mushrooms on Lisbon coffee grounds, and Olivedogma works with olive prunings in Ourém.
Portugal has the textile industry to make this scale, which is why so much of the work sits in the north. Related focuses: recycling systems, sustainable fashion and handmade and local crafts. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.