The Government approved a structural reform of the waste sector, the TERRA+ Strategy, which foresees an investment of 2.3 billion euros to reduce landfill deposition, increase reuse and recycling, and accelerate progress toward European targets.
The strategy, published in the Official Journal, provides for 1.6 billion euros of public funding and establishes measures for urban and non-urban waste, covering from prevention and preparation for reuse to recycling, valorisation, and, ultimately, disposal.
The investment will be allocated, among other areas, to strengthening the capacity of municipalities and waste management systems, to modernising infrastructures and equipment, and to implementing the measures necessary to progressively reduce the use of landfills.
TERRA+ also sets out the responsible parties and deadlines for implementing the measures and provides for a system of national, regional and local monitoring, involving the Central Administration, the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions, intermunicipal entities, municipalities and urban waste management systems.
“It is essential that this reform translate into implementation, with regular monitoring, coordination among entities and accountability for results. Portugal needs to accelerate in the waste sector, and TERRA+ brings together the instruments to turn that commitment into action,” says the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, quoted in a press release.
Among the measures already promoted are the national campaign “Vamos Lixar o Lixo,” the SDR/Volta packaging deposit and refund system and the SIED, intended to encourage the return of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
New measures are also planned, such as expanding producer responsibility to waste streams such as furniture, mattresses, and healthcare waste, the Biowaste Acceleration Programme, and the reduction in the use of very lightweight plastic bags.
The reform arises in a context of noncompliance with several European targets. In 2024, more than half of urban waste was landfilled in Portugal, when the European target for 2035 is to limit that proportion to 10%.
Of the 32 landfills in the country, 13 had about 20% of the available capacity. The rate of preparation for reuse and recycling stood at 37% in 2024, below the targets of 60% for 2030 and 65% for 2035.
The TERRA+ Strategy aims to respond to these indicators through a set of measures aimed at reducing landfilling and increasing prevention, reuse, recycling, and valorisation of waste.
