Sintra Municipal Council Mayor Marco Almeida extended the deadline by 90 days for six companies to remove 465 textile waste collection containers from the municipality. The initial removal period was set to end on July 30.
The municipality granted the extra time because of the large logistical scale required to clear the high number of collection units. The companies will now remove the containers gradually over the extended timeframe, a municipal source told Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã.
Coercive removal and future tender
Starting Nov. 1, Sintra municipality will begin removing any remaining containers coercively. The local authority will charge all transport and storage expenses directly to the owner companies, according to the municipal source.
At the same time, municipal officials are preparing a public tender procedure. This process will grant a concession to establish a new textile waste collection network across Sintra.
Container removal progress and enforcement
Two of the six companies, Wippytex and Ultriplo, have already removed all of their equipment. Together, those two companies cleared a total of 81 containers during the initial removal phase.
Municipal workers also removed two illegal containers this week. Authorities targeted those units because they lacked any identification markings.
Almeida said public space cleanliness in the municipality is still far from target standards. He said the condition inherited by his administration was very bad, but added that order is being restored step by step.
Almeida said the municipality could no longer allow clothing containers to be used as rubbish bins. He said sector companies understood the decision to end what he described as a disgrace, and noted that the firms are collaborating with local authorities.
