Sintra will bring the attention of its residents to the issue of ‘invisible waste’

For the purpose, a webinar will take place on 27 January

The municipal website of the Portuguese city of Sintra has announced that a webinar is being organized addressing issues that are pertinent to our contemporary lives, such as circularity, waste reduction and responsible consumption. Bearing the title ‘The Impact of Invisible Waste on the Environment’, it will take place on 27 January at 2:30 pm online.

What is invisible waste?

The event also seeks to promote the idea and meaning of the so-called ‘invisible waste’. That, of course, does not refer to residuals that are transparent but is rather a term denoting the waste generated during the manufacturing process of common items to our daily lives, such as electronics, medicines, batteries, cooking oils and appliances.

For example, did you know that to produce a smartphone, which weighs about 200 grams or less, some 86 kilograms of additional waste are also produced? That in itself is an astounding fact that is not widely known by the general public.

What is invisible in this case is, therefore, not the waste itself, which often cannot be recycled thus adds a heavy carbon footprint, but rather the wider ignorance surrounding the manufacturing process of common items.

Naturally, consumers cannot redesign the production facilities, but they can reformat their own consumption patterns and mindset. And that, in essence, is the purpose of the webinar.

The experts who will talk and present would like to raise the general awareness around the fact that our planet’s resources are finite and there are ways to learn how to be more responsible. They will show strategies on extending products’ lives, such as repairing them rather than purchasing a new one every so often.

Large consumer collective behavioural change would ultimately force the manufacturing industries to also adapt to the new demands and this will take time.

Attending this informative webinar requires prior registration at dsae.atividades@cm-sintra.pt