The main goal of Porto Action Plan is to complement the existing waste management system in the heritage area in order to improve its aesthetic integration in the urban structure and its accessibility, as well as to make selective collection convenient for a higher number of residents. At the same time, the implementation of the action plan will also enable the evaluation of the functionality and replicability of some of the actions in other areas of the city with similar characteristics.
In line with these overarching goals, the Porto Action Plan consists of two main actions, the implementation of which is backed up by a group of support action.
One of them consists in the creation of a waste room — a dedicated infrastructure especially adapted to selective waste deposits. This infrastructure could be integrated into an existing building or could be built in an open space.
The second main action consists in the implementation of a door-to-door selective collection system in a specific and restricted area of the heritage city centre. The intervention area is a residential area with no access to street bins for waste disposal, because of the streets structure and the space and vehicle circulation limitations. In this area, the collection its already made door-to-door but there’s no source separation of the waste. The new system intends to include the selective collection and improve the deposit conditions.
To develop these systems, feasibility studies are being made in order to establish:
- The possible locations for the implementation;
- The population that will be served;
- The waste fractions to be included;
- The type and volume of the waste deposit equipment;
- The collection frequency;
- The vehicle characteristics;
- The use of access control systems;
- The consideration of other complementary systems.
At this stage, preliminary results are already available regarding the majority of the aspects listed before. Nevertheless, there are still some details that need further investigation.
To support the creation of the waste room and the implementation of the door-to-door collection, the Action Plan envisions:
- a local policy review, that will establish the framework for the two new systems;
- a communication, awareness and controlling strategy;
- and the inclusion of the INTHERWASTE actions in the municipal action plan for waste management.
Looking ahead, the implementation of the action plan will depend on the availability of some sources of funding.
