Charitable organisation Associação Humana receives, on average, 16 tonnes of unwanted clothes and shoes donated by people in Portugal each day.
Donations are made via the 1,070 collection bins installed across the country.
Items are collected regularly and taken to a sorting depot to then be sold at the four Associação Humana stores, all in Lisbon. Funds raised from the sales are then used to support social causes in countries such as Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.
From the beginning of the year to October 18, Associação Humana has collected from the bins in Lisbon (875) around 3,100 tonnes of unwanted items and in Coimbra (109 bins) 238 tonnes of donations.
In the Algarve, there are 86 Associação Humana bins, which, since August when they were first installed in the region, have collected around 14 tonnes of donations.
Last year, donations in Lisbon and Coimbra alone helped raise €158,000 towards various social projects in Guinea-Bissau, and Maputo and Chimoio (Mozambique).
The Portuguese association, created in 2000, is part of the international Humana People to People organisation.
