Cascais Ambiente

Cascais Ambiente is the municipal environment company of Cascais. It was created on 11 November 2005 and is based in Alcabideche, at the council's multi-service complex on Estrada de Manique. The company began with urban cleaning and waste collection. Streets, fairgrounds and tunnels are washed by hand or with specific mechanical equipment, on a fortnightly, weekly, three-times-weekly or daily cycle. It also cleans gutters and storm drains. Residents can book a garden-cutting collection 24 hours ahead through the free Linha Cascais, 800 203 186, on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00. Larger economic activities have a dedicated waste collection service for large producers. Cascais Ambiente also runs a network of 62 oleões, collection points for used cooking oil spread across the municipality. The oil goes to a refinery to be recycled and stays out of drains and sewers. Smart bins are another of its projects. Green spaces are managed by the company too. Most plants for new plantings are grown locally in Cascais. A partnership with CERCICA, a cooperative for the education and rehabilitation of people with disabilities, supports the social integration of young people with special needs. In the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, it organises nature activities that carry the Natural.PT mark of the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF). Each year the municipality's Environmental Awareness Programme offers theoretical and practical activities to local schools, covering waste, energy, the sea and green spaces. The company also runs a campaign on mussel harvesting on the rocky shore. The company says its work follows an integrated strategy to mitigate climate change, from strengthening biodiversity to separate waste collection. It keeps a modern fleet that includes electric vehicles such as the MAN eTGE, and publishes its results every year.