If there is now a better network of ecopoints, which can lead to greater recycling, on the other hand there has been an increase in consumption, with people having “access to many more things”.
Christmas is, as a rule, a time of greater consumption and, therefore, excessive waste production.
“There is an excess of packaging. There is little evolution work on the part of brands. There has been no transition in terms of sustainability. The models of disposability and packaging as a sales argument remain”, laments specialist Susana Fonseca.
He is currently vice-president of the environmental association but 18 years ago he was part of another environmental association, the when in statements to Lusa he also pointed out the “large margin” of the Portuguese population that still did not recycleregarding the domestic waste from December 24th and 25th.
Today, asked by Lusa about what has changed in almost two decades, she says that today there is a different best recycling bin networkcloser to people, which can lead to greater recycling, but adds that on the other hand, there was an increase in consumptionwith people having “access to many more things”, to online commerce, to “fast fashion”. “You buy a lot of things”.
“These are things that are spent a lot of money on, that produce a lot of waste and that sometimes are almost waste, useless things that sit in a drawer for years until they also end up in the trash”, he says.
In these years there was also no “significant evolution” in the disposal of waste on the streets, on Christmas Day or the following day, forgetting that It is a period of less collectionChristmas time also for workers in the sector.
Pay for garbage that you don’t separate or recycle?
Susana Fonseca does not see much progress in recent years, and to avoid the same discourse within the next 20 years, she advocates a change in the system.
“If we produce less waste, being more rigorous in our choices, we will not have direct benefits. We pay for waste depending on water consumption. Until we create a system in which people pay for what they did not separate, the situation will not be resolved”, he explains.
And he emphasizes that it is necessary to take “a step forward” and encourage adherence to separation and recycling and “penalize those who do not cooperate”.
The specialist also argues that there is a structural component to change, to make life easier for the population, “because managing waste is not the most important thing in people’s daily lives”.
But as for the last 20 years, she confesses discouraged: “We’ve been marking time.”
With “very low” waste separation rates, with need to also separate bio-wastewith European targets for waste that are not met, there is a need for “another approach”, also on the part of municipalities.
“At least don’t put rubbish on the streets right after Christmas Eve”
No data indicating that There is now more waste separation at Christmaswith the “doll packaging will continue to be made of paper and plastic”Susana Fonseca appeals to people’s conscience. “At least don’t put rubbish on the streets right after Christmas Eve”.
In 2024, 5.52 million tons of urban waste were collected in Portugal, 182.8 thousand tons more than in 2023, according to official data. Each inhabitant produced an average of 516.2 kilos of waste that year, 11.6 kilos more than the previous year.
