In 2020, 4% of the packaging and items placed on the market by PPP members were single-use plastics considered problematic and/or unnecessary, a percentage that was reduced to 3% in 2021.

"[It is] a reduction of 61 tons compared to 2020 and that brings us closer to the 0% target set for 2025," said Patrícia Carvalho, coordinator of the Portuguese Pact for Plastics, was cited in the release statement of the 2nd progress report of the initiative launched in February 2020.

A first report on the performance of PPP members was presented at the end of November 2021.

That year, PPP members placed 93,872 tons of plastic packaging on the market, representing only 22% of the total.

However most major supermarket chains are part of the 46 full members of the PPP ("producers and distributors of raw materials, industry, brands, retail, management entities, waste management operators, recyclers"), which also has 65 institutional elements (universities, research centers, sectoral associations, municipalities, public agencies, non-governmental organizations).

For "single-use plastics considered problematic and/or unnecessary", the report notes a "92% reduction in PVC packaging compared to the previous year", as well as the elimination of various items, such as EPS (rigid cellular plastic), cups and plastic stick swabs, among others.

Against the target of placing only 2025% reusable, recyclable or computable packaging on the market by 100, the report indicates that the percentage increased by five percentage points between 2020 and 2021 (from 52% to 57%), adding that this "corresponds to a growth of 10%," which is considered "a positive result".

On the contrary, plastic packaging recycling in Portugal decreased by two percentage points from 2019 to 2020 ("last year with available data"), from 36% to 34%, which is justified by the circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic. It is intended to achieve by 2025 a rate of 70% or more.

"We believe that in 2021 and 2022 we will have better quantitative, due to the investment that several entities, including PPP, are making in communication and awareness campaigns on this topic and the adaptations, changes and improvements that the sector has been undergoing, in order to optimize waste management, including plastic packaging", says Patricia Carvalho.



Specifically, the creation of the working group "Recycling & 100% Recyclable", the development of a document on "concerns, barriers and investment priorities of the national plastics value chain, is mentioned, in order to ensure that the rate of collection, sorting and recycling of plastic packaging is increased" to be presented to PPP members and the guardianship and the communication campaign "Recycle plastic", launched in 2022 and which continues this year.

The report also indicates that in 2021, on average, "11% recycled plastic was included in plastic packaging placed on the market by PPP members", the same percentage as the previous year, with the aim "incorporating, on average, 30% recycled plastic into new packaging" of this material by 2025.

According to the PPP coordinator, "the Portuguese Pact for Plastics stands out positively, since, after three years of the initiative, the commitment of all members of the Pact is maintained, in order to achieve their vision, and their efforts have never slowed down, even with the social and economic context lived".

Patrícia Carvalho points out the doubling of the number of members since the launch of the initiative, its investment in "innovation and good practices" and the "diversity of activities and actions developed", some of which, she says, "with positive reflexes and results already visible in some of the established goals".

The PPP, which aims to put an end to plastic pollution through a transition to a circular economy, is led by the "Smart Waste Portugal" Association and belongs to the "Plastics Pact Network" of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's "New Plastics Economy" initiative, which unites 12 similar initiatives in different parts of the world.

The "Smart Waste Portugal Association", founded in 2015, with more than 100 associates committed to the strategic actions of the circular economy, is a platform for research, development and innovation, bringing together parties related to the sector.

The "Ellen MacArthur Foundation", created in 2010, aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.