Quercus today criticised the Government’s decision to move forward with the construction of a waste incinerator in the Algarve, arguing that it is an anachronistic and unsuitable solution for the seasonal peaks produced in the region.
The Portuguese environmental association also justified its opposition to the creation of a waste-to-energy plant in the Algarve by noting that burning waste produces more polluting gases than fossil fuels, or that it constitutes a solution contrary to a circular economy.
“The incinerator proposed by the Government for the Algarve is a completely anachronistic and unsuitable solution to respond to the exhaustion of the region’s two sanitary landfills, and is in complete contradiction with the goals of the PERSU [Strategic Plan for Urban Waste 2030] and with the climate objectives Portugal has committed to,” Quercus stated in a press release.
The Minister of the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, announced, on August 8, the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in the Algarve to address the exhaustion of the region’s two sanitary landfills, which is expected to occur within two years.
But Quercus considers it to be an ‘end-of-the-line’ infrastructure that will replace landfills with ‘another final disposal solution’.
The association advocates adopting a response that would allow “reducing waste production, significantly improving sorting and making the system resilient to seasonal fluctuations” and considers that the “incineration is not designed for seasonal peaks in waste.”
“The Algarve is today the region of the country that produces the most waste per capita: 400 thousand tonnes/year, with the overwhelming majority (85%) destined for landfills, at risk of running out as early as 2027. But this point of near-breaking point has only been reached due to decades of underinvestment in sustainable waste management and in circular systems and valorisation,” lamented.
Quercus argued that the strong weight of the tourism sector is reflected in waste production and that this “complicates proper processing in periods of higher demand,” causing “structural instability in the sector itself — notably in hiring staff, who need to respond to peaks that last only a few months.”
The region should, instead, “reinforce sorting and treatment capacity in the critical months” to address the problem at the source, an objective that will not be achieved, according to Quercus, with the burning of waste.
“The €300 million investment in an incinerator runs counter to all the measures advocated in PERSU 2030,” warned Quercus, underlining that the plan aims to prevent and reduce the production of waste, strengthen selective collection, increase recycling and valorisation, valorise biowaste and reduce landfilling and incineration.
The environmental association wants the Government to publish the studies that underpin the decision to move forward with an incinerator in the Algarve and accused the government of “a lack of political will” when “considering less harmful-to-the-environment alternatives” with “proven results.”
Among these alternatives is adjusting the Algarve’s waste reduction and recycling targets to the oscillation of seasonal production, incorporating tourists into the calculation, assessing wastes that cannot be recycled, or strengthening the capacity and efficiency of the existing Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities.
The high-efficiency door-to-door selective collection, identifying the user of the container and adopting a “Pay As You Throw” taxation system, the installation of Volta collection points near beach facilities, or investment in municipal programs of community and household composting are also among the association’s proposals.
