Applus+ in Portugal has been selected by the SIGRE managing entities — Electrão, Novo Verde and Sociedade Ponto Verde — to carry out the National Campaign for the Physical Characterisation of Yellow Bin Waste, which will take place throughout 2026 across all Urban Waste Management Systems (SGRU) in the country, following the guidance of the Portuguese Environment Agency (Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente).
The purpose of this project is to obtain detailed and up-to-date information on the composition of waste selectively collected in the yellow bin (recycling containers and/or door-to-door collection), meeting the requirements of the Portuguese Environment Agency to improve the existing knowledge of recyclable plastic, metal and composite carton materials separated by Portuguese consumers.
The campaign will determine the average composition of waste collected in the yellow bin, identify contaminants and recoverable materials, highlight packaging with eco-design improvement potential, and support improvements in national packaging recycling performance within the circular economy.
Applus+ will be responsible for project coordination, implementation of the sampling plan, carrying out more than 500 samples corresponding to over 125 tonnes of waste, conducting on-site physical characterisations, preparing reports and bulletins, and delivering daily partial results.
Applus+ was selected due to its solid experience in environment management services and waste characterisation, technical capacity with specialised teams, methodology aligned with international standards such as UNE-EN 14899, MODECOM and SWA-Tool, and its nation-wide infrastructure, which ensures logistical efficiency.
The results of the campaign will provide strategic information that will help guide communication and awareness actions for citizens to improve the quality of waste deposited in the yellow bin, as well as identify opportunities to improve packaging design in order to enhance its capture and recycling potential.
This will make it possible to increase the recovery of recyclable materials and reduce waste contamination. The information generated will become a key tool for the future of recycling policies in Portugal and for achieving national and European environmental targets.
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