From January 1, 2025, Portuguese municipalities will face new demands in waste treatment, including the selective collection of textiles, hazardous waste in small quantities, and bulky waste such as furniture. This measure, part of the General Waste Management Regime and aligned with European directives, is raising concerns among several local authorities due to the lack of adequate financing and infrastructure.
In the district of Faro, the challenges are evident, but promising initiatives are also emerging. In Faro, the municipal company already has containers for the collection of textiles, managed in partnership with a private company. There is also a door-to-door service for monos and green waste, and the hazardous waste collection network is in the implementation phase. However, Fagar warns that “large investments” and human resources are needed in the sector that “do not exist at the moment” in the Algarve.
Loulé stands out for acquiring mobile recycling centers for hazardous waste, such as paints and solvents. The municipality is also planning the implementation of textile collection, scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, through a protocol with specialized operators. The balance of the bio-waste collection service, which began in May 2023, has been positive, but the city council considers that raising awareness among the population about waste separation continues to be “a major challenge”.
National concerns
From north to south of the country, city halls are facing difficulties. A June report from ERSAR indicated that only 43% of councils had implemented selective collection of bio-waste in 2024, with the majority covering only part of the territories. This new obligation increases financial and logistical pressure on municipalities, as highlighted by the mayors of Setúbal, Montemor-o-Novo and Benavente, who warned of the need for additional financial support and clarity in the guidelines from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).
Despite the challenges, there are positive examples, such as Matosinhos, where 50% of the textiles collected are reused, and Viana do Castelo, where the collection of textiles generated revenue for local institutions.
The future of waste management
To face these demands, municipalities such as Faro and Loulé are betting on innovation and strategic partnerships, but warn that additional resources will be needed to expand collection networks and raise awareness among the population. The effective implementation of these measures will be crucial to meeting environmental goals and strengthening waste management in the Algarve and across the country.
New waste collection worries municipalities but there are also positive experiences
The new mandatory selective collection of waste, such as textiles, by municipalities, starting January 1st, worries many city halls, which demand support. There are municipalities that already have services in operation, but, in several cases, they need greater coverage.
In 2024 it became mandatory for municipalities to have selective collection of bio-waste, but a report from the regulatory entity, ERSAR, highlighted in June a “weak implementation”: only 79 (43%) of the 185 chambers that responded to a survey (the country there are 308) reported that they are providing the service and in most cases the system “does not cover its entire area of intervention”.
The challenges are now increasing, as the General Waste Management Regime determines – transposing European directives – that these local authorities must collect three new fractions of waste generated by families, shops, workplaces and public institutions: textiles, small amounts of hazardous waste and furniture and other bulky waste.
Despite there being several of these circuits in the country, the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities has contested the lack of funding, a complaint repeated by several chambers contacted by Lusa.
The Municipal Services of Setúbal, for example, consider that “there are not enough financial resources” to activate all the selective collections identified in the national strategies.
“The demands emanating from Brussels are unrealistic, because, in addition to adding new waste streams, they impose very demanding targets, which would imply the mobilization of large financial, technological and human resources. Municipalities do not have the means to do this, there is no support we can use and we cannot impose brutal tariff increases on citizens”, they justify.
The municipality has 72 containers for textiles from private networks and is in the decision phase to launch – in the first quarter of 2025 – the municipal network in conjunction with private individuals, with 65 containers. Domestic biowaste collection began in 2021 and today has 34% coverage.
In Montemor-o-Novo (Évora district), the mayor, Olímpio Galvão, admits to being concerned about the new requirements, as they imply “a great financial effort” and due to a lack of guidance: “without financing planned”, the investment “it will have to be carried out in a phased manner”.
There are uncertainties regarding the guidelines of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) for the operation of these networks, “provided for by law, but not yet published”.
“We may be investing in solutions that may not subsequently be recognized by the APA”, warns Olímpio Galvão, remembering that there is already selective collection of this waste in the municipality, in partnership with parish councils and the intermunicipal management entity, but without covering the entire territory. and in need of improvements.
The mayor of Benavente (Santarém), Carlos Coutinho, also points out the high cost and complexity of the operation as challenges.
“The treatment process requires significant investments. It is increasingly demanding and has a very high cost, in addition to being penalized by the Waste Management Fee”, he states, recognizing that, although there are regional support programs, “there is a lot of work to do to guarantee an efficient and sustainable system of recycling and waste treatment”.
In Santarém, councilor Alfredo Amarante highlights that it will be necessary to deliver textile waste exclusively to licensed entities. In the municipality there are three entities managing this collection, but only one is licensed.
“We are developing study, verification and opening work for new entities. I would really like to give this to an entity at a local level, but they have to obtain a license”, he explains, also highlighting the focus on raising awareness to end the abandonment of garbage near containers.
Another issue, according to the vice-president of the Évora executive, Alexandre Varela, is what to do with the textiles, which are already collected in the city through concession containers, with the aim of expanding to the rest of the municipality in 2025. “Many are not properly recyclable”, because they are made up of various types of materials and “it is very difficult to separate all the materials”, he indicates.
As for bulky waste, Évora collects it at home, but recycling is also “not such a linear matter”, and small amounts of hazardous waste are recycled by the district company Gesamb.
In Nazaré (Leiria), the collection and recycling of textiles is the responsibility of external entities and bulk collection is municipal, with hazardous waste collection yet to be implemented. This system “presents some degree of difficulty both at an operational and financial level”, but the chamber intends to apply it “in the short term”.
Biowaste is obtained door-to-door “next to some catering establishments” – it is hoped to cover more, despite “some resistance to change” – and composters are being distributed to individuals, but “proximity collection has not yet been implemented” .
The biowaste network in Covilhã (Castelo Branco) is “in the pilot phase and covers around 18% of the population”. The city council wants full coverage by the end of 2030 and is also implementing a network for hazardous waste, in partnership with councils.
The textile network “is widely implemented throughout the municipality”, associating the municipal company Águas da Covilhã and the multi-municipal manager Resiestar, with the support of specialized operators.
In the district of Faro, Loulé acquired mobile mobile ecocenters for hazardous waste, such as paints or solvents, and has “ongoing planning for the collection of textiles, with implementation and collection under a protocol expected for the first quarter of 2025 ”.
The municipality gives a positive assessment of the bio-waste service that it has been gradually implementing since May 2023, but also considers raising awareness about separation “a big challenge”.
In Faro, the municipal company Fagar warns that “large investments” and human resources are needed in the sector that “do not exist at the moment” in the Algarve.
There are already containers in the municipality for textiles (collected by a company that has an agreement with the city hall) and door-to-door service for monos and green and construction waste. The hazardous waste network is being implemented, with “some obstacles” that “may make it impossible to achieve the goals”.
In the district of Beja, Ourique has been collecting monos “for many years”, including textiles in this service, and already gathers organics in the door-to-door system, but the president, Marcelo Guerreiro, admits “not knowing well” the new directive.
In the district capital there has been an “increase in the deposition” of biodegradable materials (started a year ago) and bulky items can be delivered in containers, at the recycling center or with home service. According to the vice-president of the Chamber of Beja, Rui Marreiros, there are also containers from private companies for textiles “all over the municipality” and, for hazardous waste, “mobile recycling centers will be placed in various locations, on a scheduled and rotating basis.” .
Since 2016, Matosinhos (Porto) has been collecting textiles and around 50% is already being reused. Between January and September, 469 tons were delivered, but in the 137 ‘robes’ installed, toys or books can also be left.
Leiria launched the “If you don’t wear it, value it” project in 2022 and collected around 15 tons of material, at 22 collection points, in schools and private social solidarity institutions, according to councilor Luís Lopes.
The organic network began in January in restaurants and hotels, later extending to some residential areas, with 160 tons collected. In the parish of Regueira de Pontes, a specific project has made it possible to gather almost 137 tons more since 2022.
In Viana do Castelo, textiles have been collected since 2015 in partnership with three entities and the protocols provide that each year they will contribute to institutions. In 2023, after collecting 148.6 tons, five institutions received R$14,250.
“We will maintain exactly the same collection system, without ruling out increasing the number of containers made available”, highlights councilor Carlota Borges.
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