How many recycling bins are there?
Yellow, blue, green – these are the colours of the three most common recycling bins in Portugal, ready to receive plastic, paper and glass packaging respectively. There is other waste that also deserves a second life. This is the case with light bulbs, small household appliances, batteries and used cooking oil. Where should they go? After all, how many colours can recycling have? The recycling bins available in Pingo Doce stores have the answer.
Pingo Doce Recycling Bins
The network of Pingo Doce Recycling Bins – called “Ecopontos” (something like Ecopoints) in Portuguese – covered more than stores by the end of 2023, reaching around 96% of the brand’s network in Portugal. In these stores you can find recycling bins for not just the usual, but many other kinds of residues.
Pingo Doce stores all over the country have been, since 2009, equipped with Ecopontos, or recycling bins for customer use. Providing this environmental service to Pingo Doce customers contributes not only to reducing the amount of residues in landfills, but also to creating new solutions that promote a circular economy.
It all started with the Oleão; a recycling bin specifically destined to take in used cooking oil. In 2011, it was time for the Pilhão to shine: a recycling bin for used batteries. Recycling bins for small electronics and electronic appliances came next, as well bins for printer cartridges and for light bulbs and lamps. The most recent addition to the Pingo Doce recycling bin family is the Capsulão, the bin where you can safely deposit your used coffee pods and capsules since 2013.
The Pingo Doce recycling bin for cooking oil
To recycle your used cooking oil, start by storing it in robust plastic bottles that you can open and close easily. When the bottle is full, put it in the appropriate recycling bin, the Oleão, at your favourite Pingo Doce store – the colour of the recycling bin is also yellow. Since the Oleão came into existence, more than 1 million litres of used cooking oils have been collected at the Pingo Doce recycling bins.
The Pingo Doce recycling bin for coffee pods and capsules
More than 300 Pingo Doce stores have now a Capsulão where you can dispose of your used coffee capsules and pods. These Pingo Doce recycling bins will collect coffee pods of any material and brand. Look for the brown recycling bin the next time you visit Pingo Doce.
The Pingo Doce recycling bin for batteries, electrical and electronic equipment
Although most of today’s devices need to be plugged in to charge their batteries, there are many appliances that run on batteries – like the TV remote control, for example. When your batteries stop working, don’t leave them abandoned in a drawer at home, only to find them after a while and wonder if they’re new or old. Instead, look for the red recycling bin in your local Pingo Doce store and give them a new life.
The Pingo Doce recycling bin for light bulbs
Has the light bulb in your lamp burnt out? Don’t put it in the rubbish bin, there’s a special container for it at your nearest Pingo Doce. It’s blue in colour and is suitable for all types of bulbs, from compact to tubular, whether LED or not. If these bulbs were placed in another recycling centre, the risk of them breaking would mean that the rest of the material around them could be contaminated by the mercury and metal they release – not to mention the contamination of the environment.
Pingo Doce recycling bins: everything adds up
In 2023 alone, approximately 69 tonnes of small electronic appliances (including light bulbs), 18 tonnes of batteries, 72 tonnes of used cooking oil and 487 tonnes of coffee pods were disposed in the Pingo Doce recycling bins.
Resist the urge to put everything in the same bag – the Pingo Doce recycling bins are waiting for your waste.
Data updated on 14 October 2024.
