CleanUp4Guimarães raises awareness about the risk of plastic in Guimarães’ rivers

Throughout August, Laboratório da Paisagem will be promoting a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of keeping rivers free of plastic, as part of the CleanUp4Guimarães project. Since Monday, an exhibition has been installed in Largo do Toural, seeking to make an impact with images of some of the waste recently collected from Guimarães’ waterways. The organisation will also be using social media for closer communication.

The accumulation of rubbish in aquatic environments, especially plastics, is a global problem that threatens ecosystems. It is estimated that between 19 and 23 million tonnes of plastic end up in lakes, rivers and seas every year. In Guimarães, a recent study revealed that plastics and textile waste account for an impressive 97 per cent of the materials collected on river banks.

A transformative initiative

The CleanUp4Guimarães project, carried out under the European REMEDIES programme, will promote collaboration between Guimarães City Council, the Landscape Laboratory, the University of Minho and citizens to clean up Guimarães’ waterways and make the most of the plastic collected. This strategic partnership will make it possible to identify plastic waste hotspots and take effective action.

CleanUp4Guimarães proposes to carry out a number of impactful activities, such as mobilising volunteers to remove waste from riverbeds and banks, setting up floating litter retention barriers, practical and informative sessions for the community and Green Brigades, awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of keeping rivers clean and free of plastic.

The plastics collected will be segregated, characterised and categorised for recycling and reuse, turning the environmental problem into an opportunity to promote the Circular Economy in the region. This process not only reduces pollution, but also creates new resources from discarded materials.

The main objectives of the CleanUp4Guimarães project are to implement a collaborative system for the efficient collection of plastics in rivers, to analyse the pathways and accumulation of plastics along a rural-urban gradient and to segregate, characterise and categorise plastic waste for future recovery through recycling and reuse of plastics in a compatible manner.

CleanUp4Guimarães is perfectly aligned with REMEDIES’ goal of preventing the creation of plastic waste, involving the public and promoting a more environmentally conscious society. This project promises not only to improve the quality of aquatic ecosystems, but also to inspire other regions to adopt sustainable and innovative practices in plastic waste management.