The final event of the EEA Grants project “(De)construct for Circular Economy”
The MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre – team, constituted by Mário Ramos, Graça Martinho, Lia Vasconcelos, and Filipa Ferreira, from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of FCT NOVA, collaborated for two years in the Baixo Alentejo region, in the project (De)construct for Circular Economy. This project was financed by the EEA Grants mechanism, and promoted by CIMBAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Baixo Alentejo, which coordinated 7 national partners (Portugal), as well three from other countries: Norway, Czech Republic, and Romania. The activities developed focused on promoting the principles of circular economy in the construction sector, with an emphasis on construction and demolition waste (CDW) management.
The results obtained were presented at the Baixo Alentejo Intermunicipal Council, on December 12th, and on the next day, during the project final event, which was attended by representatives of the Secretaria-Geral do Ambiente, Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo, the project partners, and municipalities.
The activities carried out by the team focused on 4 main areas:
- awareness and training of municipal technicians and representatives from micro and small construction companies, as they have specific challenges about CDW management;
- creation of a proposal for regulatory clauses about CDW management, to harmonize the legal framework criteria between municipalities;
- study of illegal dumping of CDW, contributing to the resolution of important gaps in data currently available; and
- testing local strategies to improve the management of this type of waste, in terms of preliminary storage of CDW, awareness of stakeholders and supervision of practices at construction sites, and also in the associated procedural control.
The results obtained are positive and express the importance of cooperation between the stakeholders mentioned, in the context of local dynamics, and the frequent monitoring and supervision of procedures, for effective and sustainable CDW management.
