The “Let’s separate the waste” mobile unit aims to raise awareness about the importance of continuing to sort waste during the warmer months; the summer of 2025 saw the generation of over 1.8 million tons.

The Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) warned this Monday of the urgent need for proper waste sorting during the summer holidays—a time when urban waste generation peaks, reaching nearly two million tons.

To mark the start of summer, the APA is touring six districts across the country with an information and awareness-raising initiative as part of the “Vamos Lixar o Lixo” campaign, which launched earlier this year. The agency highlights that waste production is highest during this period, with August being the peak month.

Last year, between June and September, over 1.8 million tons of urban waste were generated; August alone accounted for more than 480,000 tons, the APA noted in a statement released this Monday.

With July and August being the most critical months, this new phase of the campaign aims to highlight the need for proper waste sorting—even while on vacation—and to promote responsible behavior.

“During this seasonal period, when families and friends gather—whether at home or while out and about—proper waste sorting should not be abandoned, so as to reduce environmental impact,” APA emphasized in the statement.

The new initiative under the “Let’s separate the waste” campaign features a mobile unit that serves as a base for activities inviting communities to reflect on the importance of waste sorting.

“Contrary to common belief, summer is typically the period of highest waste generation in Portugal. This trend is expected to continue this year. However, it is important to emphasize that waste does not take a break or rest during the summer. With this initiative, we hope to engage communities in a problem that concerns everyone, from the Algarve to the Minho,” said APA President José Pimenta Machado, as quoted in the statement.

The roadshow features a quiz on public knowledge regarding proper waste separation, a sustainable consumption simulator that identifies consumer profiles, workshops for creating art from recycled materials, and games. It also includes an “mural of excuses” displaying the reasons often given for failing to separate waste correctly. The “Let’s separate the waste” campaign runs until the end of the year.

APA—a public institute within the State’s indirect administration—is the entity responsible for implementing environmental policies in Portugal, with a remit covering monitoring, planning and evaluation, licensing, and enforcement.

The Portuguese Environmental Agency launches an awareness campaign to promote recycling during the holiday months. “Summer is typically the period with the highest waste generation in Portugal.”

With the arrival of summer, we also enter the most critical time of the year for urban waste generation in Portugal. Between June and September of last year, over 1.8 million tons of waste were produced, according to data from the Portuguese Environmental (APA), which launched a new awareness campaign this Monday (June 15) to promote recycling during the holiday season.

In August of last year alone, over 480,000 tons of urban waste were generated, making it the month with the highest volume of waste produced in the country. “Contrary to common belief, summer is typically the period of highest waste generation in Portugal. This year, that trend is expected to continue,” states APA’s president José Pimenta Machado, as quoted in a press release.

Given this situation, the agency highlights the need to maintain waste-sorting habits even during the holidays, when many families change their routines and spend more time traveling, at the beach, or socializing. “Waste doesn’t take a break or rest during the summer,” emphasizes Pimenta Machado. “With this initiative, we hope to engage communities in a problem that affects everyone, from the Algarve to the Minho region.”

This initiative is part of the ongoing national campaign “Let’s separate the waste” and will feature a “roadshow” traveling to six cities across the country over the course of 18 days. The goal is to raise public awareness about proper waste sorting and reducing the environmental impact associated with increased consumption during the warmer months.

The traveling truck will visit Coimbra, Aveiro, Braga, Castelo Branco, Évora, and Portimão, offering activities aimed at various audiences. These include educational games, workshops on reusing recycled materials, a sustainable consumption simulator, and a recycling quiz.

One of the most visible initiatives will be the so-called “mural of excuses,” where participants can identify the most common reasons cited for not sorting waste correctly.

APA intends to use this exercise to challenge citizens to adopt more responsible behaviors.

“Roadshow” stops:
June 19–21 – Coimbra
June 26–28 – Aveiro
July 3–5 – Braga
July 10–12 – Castelo Branco
July 17–19 – Évora
July 24–26 – Portimão

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The Portuguese Environmental Agency is stepping up its “Let’s separate the waste” campaign this summer; the initiative was created to change recycling habits and reduce reliance on landfills.

The Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) is marking the start of summer with a communication and awareness-raising drive that will travel through six districts—from Coimbra to Portimão—to highlight the rise in urban waste generation during the warmer months. This initiative is part of the “Let’s separate the waste” campaign, launched by the APA in December 2025. With a planned 15-month duration and an investment of €4.3 million, the campaign represents the agency’s commitment to changing waste separation and recycling habits and reducing dependence on landfills.

This new phase of the campaign coincides with the period APA identifies as the most critical of the year for waste generation in Portugal. According to data released by the agency, over 1.8 million tons of urban waste were produced between June and September 2025, with August alone exceeding 480,000 tons. The APA therefore maintains that July and August are the most problematic months, challenging the notion that summer brings a respite from the environmental impact associated with consumption.

“Contrary to common belief, summer is consistently the period with the highest waste generation in Portugal. This trend is expected to continue this year. However, it is important to emphasize that waste does not take a break or rest during the summer,” states José Pimenta Machado, APA’s president, in a press release issued this Monday. The goal, he adds, is to engage “communities in a problem that belongs to everyone, from the Algarve to the Minho.”

It is against this backdrop that the APA is now focusing its message on the holiday season—a time when families and groups of friends spend more time together, whether at home or away, and when, according to the agency, proper waste separation must not be neglected. The campaign seeks to highlight that the seasonal increase in waste generation calls for greater attention to daily habits, ranging from consumption choices to the proper routing of materials for recycling.

The “mural of excuses”

The campaign takes the form of a tour—or “roadshow,” in the words of the APA—featuring a traveling truck that will visit Coimbra, Aveiro, Braga, Castelo Branco, Évora, and Portimão over the course of 18 days. The initiative includes a waste-sorting quiz, a sustainable consumption simulator designed to identify consumer profiles, workshops for creating art from recycled materials, and games tailored to different age groups.

The tour will also feature an “excuses wall,” where reasons given by the public for not sorting waste correctly will be collected at each stop. The APA presents this element as a provocative tool designed to confront the tendency to downplay the issue and to challenge the public to “make fewer excuses and recycle more.”

The schedule released by the agency begins in Coimbra (Praça da República) from June 19 to 21, followed by stops in Aveiro (June 26–28), Braga (July 3–5), Castelo Branco (July 10–12), Évora (July 17–19), and Portimão (July 24–26). In every city, the event will run on Fridays from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

This initiative is part of the agency’s broader strategy to tackle a problem it classifies as structural. When the campaign was launched, the APA set out to create a “social movement” capable of changing Portuguese people’s behavior regarding waste, in a country where separate waste collection remains virtually stagnant and landfill disposal continues to account for a significant share of waste management.

“APA’s appeal is clear: let’s sort our waste before the future gets screwed,” stated José Pimenta Machado at the time regarding “the Let’s separate the waste” campaign.

Data from APA itself points to a persistent failure in source separation, particularly concerning bio-waste. According to the agency, 1.3 million tons of food waste go unsorted in Portugal each year. For APA’s president, “waste generation increases every year, separate collection is virtually stagnant, and reliance on landfills remains very high,” making the waste sector “one of the country’s greatest environmental challenges.”

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