Start by recycling the excuses

Think about how often we go on vacation and use it as an excuse to stop sorting our waste. The biggest problem is that waste doesn't take a break. In the summer of 2025, we generated over 1.8 million tons of municipal waste—with more than 480,000 tons produced in August alone.
With those minor vacation excuses—which actually have a huge impact year-round—in mind, the Portuguese Environment Agency launched a campaign to remind everyone of the importance of proper waste sorting.

In the summer, use the "desculpão".

The film, a centerpiece of this summer campaign, makes us reflect on the excuses that are always hovering around—and shows us where they belong.

The impact
of our campaign

It is natural for vacations to invite us to relax and step away from our daily routine. But that doesn't mean resting on the excuse that we're on a break. That is why we turned to social media—which never takes a holiday—to show that the waves of trash ending up in landfills create a sea of ​​environmental problems, including for our beautiful beaches.

Summer meet-ups to promote waste separation.

Everyone is familiar with garbage trucks. However, a truck designed to raise awareness around waste has a different mission: to spread the message of waste separation and recycling across the country. With this goal in mind, the APA launched a roadshow—stretching from Minho to the Algarve—to inform communities about a problem that peaks in the summer: the waste we generate but fail to sort correctly.