The president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL) today warned of the need for the region to find solutions for the destination of waste, under the risk that, in seven years, landfills will be exhausted and rubbish will be on the streets.
“In seven years’ time, if we do nothing, the Algarve’s waste will be on the streets,” António Pina told Lusa, arguing that alternatives for the deposition and treatment of urban waste produced in the region should be studied now.
The AMAL president explained that the landfills currently available “have limited capacity and are expected to reach full capacity within about seven years,” which obliges municipalities to anticipate a solution.
“We need to start studying now what the solutions are,” he said, pointing to three possibilities: the construction of new landfills, the transfer of waste to other regions or countries, or an investment in energy recovery.
The president of the Câmara de Faro (PS) also acknowledged that there is a path to reduce the amount of waste directed to landfills, but said that this process will be slow.
“With the Algarve, we are 50% above the national average of waste going to landfill,” he stressed, attributing part of this difference to the region’s strong tourism presence, which increases waste production.
According to António Pina, the Algarve’s mayors “have asked the Ministry of Environment to move forward now with the study of available alternatives,” so that a decision can be taken in advance.
“We cannot be irresponsible by not starting to work now,” the mayor said, arguing that “the region needs to know in a timely manner the solutions and their possible locations.”
The AMAL president added that the Ministry of Environment is preparing a study on solutions and locations, in an analysis that should cover different possibilities, including new landfills and energy recovery units.
The European Union “is very opposed to new landfills,” he recalled, adding that waste energy recovery “is currently one of the hypotheses being analyzed by the Algarve municipalities.”
The AMAL official acknowledged, however, the opposition expressed by environmental associations to incineration, arguing that these organizations should also present alternatives.
“We must listen to everyone and then make decisions,” he said, stressing that the municipalities “are willing to hear proposals” that will allow addressing the problem of waste deposition capacity in the region.
António Pina insisted that the responsibility to find a solution lies with the current political leaders, who cannot wait until the landfills’ capacity is exhausted to start the process.
“It is not seven years from now that we will prepare a solution,” he reinforced, warning that, “if there is no timely decision, the Algarve could run out of capacity to deposit its waste.”
AMAL thus argues that the study of alternatives and their respective locations should move forward with urgency, allowing municipalities to prepare a response for the period when the current landfills reach their maximum capacity.
On Saturday, the Environment minister indicated that the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) will proceed with a project to install an energy-recovery unit for waste in the region.
The current landfills operating in the Algarve, in Loulé and Portimão, have capacity to receive waste for a maximum of two years, he added, noting that the region—the one that produces the most waste per capita in the country, since tourists are not counted in the averages—has an annual production of 400,000 tonnes of waste.
