Waste - Why care? (Portugal)

Inadequate treatment or improper disposal of industrial, agricultural, domestic or medical waste causes soil, air and water pollution, with its corresponding negative impacts on public health.

The urban waste management sector in Portugal has developed significantly over the past decade as a result of planning and implementing a coherent series of strategies flowing from our obligations under EU legislation, particularly by closing waste tips and building landfills and other waste recovery infrastructure.

The legal framework governing waste management has been consolidated over the last few years, with systems for managing certain specific flows, and placing the onus on producers to pursue targets for prevention, separate collection, recycling and other forms of recovery. EU legislation on waste incineration, co-incineration and landfilling has been transposed into national law.