News

Our own articles and interviews, and our summaries of what the Portuguese press reported on sustainability. The Pulse is the daily edition; this is the lasting entrance — every story on its own page.

What was reported

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PSD councillors in Leiria demand more street cleaning over Volta scheme
People rummaging through Leiria's bins for cash-back bottles are leaving a mess councillors want fixed.
26 September 2026Centro
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Faro utility launches mobile recycling centres and home composting
From 29 September, mobile units will rotate through every parish collecting items that regular bins refuse.
25 September 2026Algarve
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VALORMED tours six shopping centres on medicine disposal
Interactive booths at shopping centres will ask visitors what they normally do with old medicines.
25 September 2026Lisbon
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Portugal completes €168m battery recycling and storage programme
A factory in Braga now does something no other plant in Western Europe can.
25 September 2026Norte
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Braval joins scheme to boost glass recycling in bars and restaurants
Ninety-five bars and restaurants across six municipalities are about to get dedicated glass bins.
24 September 2026NorteSPV
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MAAT to host three free Repair Café sessions in 2026
Three repair sessions, free but by registration, are coming to the MAAT garden over the next year.
24 September 2026LisbonZero Waste Lab
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FoodConnect app launches in Portugal to redistribute surplus food
A new app lets Portuguese restaurants, hotels and producers give away food instead of throwing it out.
23 September 2026ZERO
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Portugal's first lithium battery recycling plant opens in Braga
The Braga plant recovers over 95% of battery materials, but a key step still happens hundreds of kilometres away in France.
23 September 2026NorteElectrão
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Green Market Madeira draws record crowd in Ribeira Brava debut
What began with just 13 participants in 2023 has now more than quadrupled in size.
22 September 2026MadeiraIFCN
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Glass industry body launches ad campaign on packaging materials
Ads in Lisbon and Porto metro stations put packaging materials side by side for commuters to compare.
22 September 2026
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Vila Real de Santo António launches shared brand for its markets
A shell, a fruit and a fish now identify three Algarve markets under one shared design.
22 September 2026Algarve
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Portuguese survey finds strong green intent but patchy Sistema Volta use
Over 80% know the recycling scheme, yet more than a third say they never actually use it.
21 September 2026
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AIP to host webinar on life-cycle assessment and product declarations
A free hour-long session promises a practical case study and a live platform demonstration.
18 September 2026
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Environment minister rules out scrapping bottle deposit scheme
Lisbon's mayor wants the bottle deposit scheme scrapped, but the minister says returns already hit 44%.
16 September 2026Lisbon
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Petition against Portugal's Volta deposit scheme tops 37,000 signatures
A citizens' petition against Portugal's bottle deposit scheme has gathered five times the signatures needed for a parliamentary debate.
15 September 2026
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Vila Verde hosts launch of EU circular manufacturing project
A European project worth around seven million euros just kicked off in a small Portuguese town.
14 September 2026Norte
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Portugal competition watchdog clears Pure Planet's purchase of RDUZ
Three companies teamed up through a joint vehicle to buy a Portuguese waste management firm.
11 September 2026
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Portugal's bottle deposit scheme surpasses 305 million returns
Container returns tripled in just two months, pushing the daily rate to roughly 57 bottles and cans every second.
11 September 2026
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Groups demand 5% of packaging fees fund reuse systems
Eight groups point to France, where a similar rule freed up nearly €168 million for reuse infrastructure in three years.
11 September 2026Zero Waste Lab
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Matosinhos mall to host Japanese textile-repair workshop
A centuries-old Japanese stitching craft is coming to a Matosinhos shopping centre this September.
10 September 2026NorteLIPOR
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Funding call opens for bioeconomy projects in Pinhais do Zêzere area
Four municipalities in central Portugal now have until October 2026 to tap a fund for greener local production.
10 September 2026CentroAJAP
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Tobacco waste manager ÚNICO starts funding urban cleaning costs
Cigarette filters make up under 1% of urban waste by weight, yet now trigger their own funding stream for city cleaning.
9 September 2026Electrão
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Leiria and Oeste university team wins national Poliempreende award
A plant found on the cliffs of Peniche is now at the centre of a biotech idea judged the country's best.
9 September 2026Centro
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Funding call opens for bioeconomy projects in Bragança district
Farmers and businesses in four Trás-os-Montes municipalities have until October 2026 to apply for the funding.
8 September 2026NorteAJAP
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ZERO warns landfill expansion may take banned organic waste
A green group says an environmental study for a Portuguese landfill lists waste that is legally forbidden there.
8 September 2026CentroZERO
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Deposit-return kiosk network aims for 50 sites
Six kiosks are already collecting about 120 packages a minute each, with dozens more on the way.
7 September 2026LPN
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Portugal approves €2.3bn waste strategy as landfills run out of space
Thirteen of Portugal's 32 landfills are nearly out of space, prompting a multi-billion-euro rethink of waste policy.
4 September 2026ZERO
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Quercus opposes planned Algarve incinerator, urges alternatives
The environmental group wants a minister to answer three pointed questions about a hidden consultancy report.
3 September 2026AlgarveZERO
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Systemic Sphere launches service to audit green claims
European Commission data cited in the launch found over half of green claims examined were vague or unfounded.
3 September 2026
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Environment minister admits problems with bottle deposit scheme
The minister points to festivals, overflowing bins and people rummaging through rubbish as signs the new bottle scheme still needs fixing.
2 September 2026