The environmentalist association Zero marks today the International Day of E-Waste, recalling the figures that show less than half of the EU target is being recycled, and pointing the Government as the main responsible for the “debacle”.
“The reasons for this debacle are multiple, but they always rest on actions or omissions by the three public bodies that over these 20 years should have safeguarded the proper management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): the Ministry of the Environment, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Directorate-General for Economic Activities (DGAE),” says the association.
Recalling that this year marks 20 years since the WEEE Management System (SIGREEE) began operating, Zero says these are 20 years of boycotts and illegality and that the celebrations could not be any sadder.
According to the latest official data from the APA, in 2024 Portugal collected and treated 32% of WEEE, less than half the EU target of 65%.
Beyond the numbers, Zero maps a very negative trajectory for the entire process, starting by recalling that in the first 12 years of the system’s operation (until 2018) the APA allowed that WEEE shredded in scrap fragmentation units counted toward the targets of the WEEE managing entities (Electrão and ERP), without any evidence that these residues had been properly decontaminated.
After 2018, these residues stopped counting and, for that reason, the managing entities never again met the targets of their licenses, which implied the payment of a Waste Management Tax (TGR) of 10 euros per tonne, so low “that it continued to be economically compensatory for the mismanagement of WEEE”.
When the Government raised the TGR, the APA created a new calculation formula that considerably reduced the amount payable by the managing entities, continuing to be profitable not to meet targets, says Zero in the release, adding that the Ministry of the Environment postponed meeting the EU target to 2030.
“In addition to the low rate of WEEE collection, the managing entities, in many cases, hand over the collected WEEE to treatment companies that do not meet the minimum requirements for removing hazardous substances, but the APA, instead of acting, has turned a blind eye to this situation,” accuses Zero in the release.
And it points to the non-functioning of the Waste Management Monitoring Commission (CAGER), which never worked well and is now halted for two years.
Zero concludes that the “calamitous management of WEEE has very significant impacts on public health and the environment,” and that from 2027 it could “be responsible for a bill of several hundreds of millions of euros that the Portuguese State will have to pay to the European Union for the tonnes of WEEE that are not properly managed.”
