Portugal’s Azores Waste Week runs creative workshops on sustainable fashion

Portugal’s Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action, based in Ponta Delgada, the Azores, has just hosted a series of creative sustainable fashion workshops during the 16th Azores Waste Week, held from November 22 to 30, as part of the 17th European Week for Waste Reduction.

As part of the 16th Azores Waste Week, and of this project, a series of 10 creative workshops on sustainable fashion and environmental awareness began across all the Azorean islands, as well as online, with the aim of showing how textile waste can be given a new lease of life, explained the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action, Alonso Miguel, at the launch of the series of creative workshops on sustainable fashion, held at the Tomás de Borba Primary and Secondary School in Angra do Heroísmo.

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action said that “the aim is to stimulate creativity, motivation, and critical thinking among participants, demonstrating that it is possible to transform used clothes into new products, create sustainable fashion, or simply extend the life of garments and fashion accessories”.

During this week, 114 awareness-raising actions were carried out in the Azores, including 20 on Pico, 23 on São Miguel, 12 on Terceira, 14 on Faial, nine on Santa Maria, 10 on Graciosa, nine on São Jorge, 12 on Flores, and five on Corvo, said Alonso Miguel, stressing that the initiative covered five thematic areas: clean-up actions; reuse and preparation for reuse; prevention and reduction at source; waste sorting and recycling; and the thematic focus area of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Alonso Miguel added that “in the region, 143 entities are taking part, including public administration bodies, local authorities, private companies, waste management entities and operators, educational establishments, environmental associations, and non-governmental organisations, as well as individual citizens”.

“These actions, carried out at regional level, have the main objective of raising awareness of proper waste management, informing about appropriate destinations and promoting prevention and reduction at source, thus helping to minimise waste production on each island.”

Also according to Alonso Miguel, who took part in the launch of the creative sustainable fashion workshops in Angra: “In the Azores, due to the geographical location, the archipelagic specificities and the small size of the territory, we face increased challenges and significant additional costs related to the transport, management, and treatment of waste,” he noted on the occasion.

Alonso Miguel also pointed out that “waste management and the promotion of the circular economy are priority issues for the Regional Government, and one of the main objectives of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action is to develop innovative solutions to ensure a reduction in waste generation and a sustainable management model, especially with regard to the types that pose the greatest challenges, such as textiles,” according to the Azores government portal (portal.azores.gov.pt).

This is how the ‘INTERREG MAC- TEXTIL: Weaving a Sustainable Future’ project came about, with a financial allocation of around 200,000 euros to implement measures in the Azores between 2025 and 2027, with the aim of “boosting the circular economy in the textile sector, reducing imports and dependence on unsustainable textiles, and promoting the reuse, recycling, and efficient management of textile waste in Macaronesian regions, namely in the Azores and Madeira.” It further states that, “in practice, the project aims to promote the transition to a more sustainable production and consumption model, reducing the fraction of textile waste incinerated or landfilled, and encouraging its reuse and recycling through technological solutions, creativity, and management and cooperation adapted to the regional context.”

For Alonso Miguel, “this project, which is of great relevance to the region, involves regional and local governments and academia, with the participation of various universities, such as the Universities of the Azores, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, La Laguna (Tenerife), Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe, among other technology centres. It also includes civil society organisations and NGOs, such as AJITER and the Gaspar Frutuoso Foundation, as well as the Madeira Chamber of Commerce and Industry”.

For the government official, “we need to act, innovate and change habits,” stressing that “textile waste management is not just the responsibility of governments, companies, or the fashion industry. It is a collective responsibility, but also an individual responsibility of each of us, which starts with small actions in our daily lives,” he concluded at the event, which took place at the school in the Azores.