en 
“Public authorities and policy makers continue to pretend
that there is not a very serious situation with the management of resources,
which could be fostering the circular economy, but end up deposited in
landfills or are burned”, said the association, in a statement, regarding the
Annual Report on Urban Waste (RARU2021), available on the portal of the
Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).
Zero says that “poor calculations and manipulation are not
enough to hide the stagnation of recycling” and calls for an urgent change in
urban waste management.
In the statement, the association also leaves doubts about
the quality of the data provided by the APA regarding the final destination of
waste, landfill, energy recovery, material recycling, composting and other
valorisations.
And justifies: “The sum of the percentages of final
destinations for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 never reaches 100%, remaining at
97%, 98% and 98%, respectively, a situation that is repeated, but in a still
more evident, in the data presented for each SGRU (Urban Waste Management
System) for the year 2021”, with the values of final destinations varying
between 67% and 102%.
Even more serious, in the opinion of the association, is the
insistence on the use of a form of calculation that “continues to manipulate
the rate of preparation for reuse and recycling” and that is considered
“invalid” by the European Commission.
They state that this rate “artifically” reached 33% last
year, “when in reality it was a worrying 21%”.
According to APA data, last year 5.311 million tons of urban
waste were produced in Portugal, 1% more than in 2020. The production of urban
waste on the continent corresponds to a daily production of 1.40 kilos per
inhabitant.
“Although in recent years there has been an increase in the
number of infrastructures for selective collection, it has not had the
proportional effects on the quantities collected selectively”, says the APA
report, according to which, in relation to final destinations, the replacement
in landfill was last year 56% of total urban waste.
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All you need to do is look elsewhere for more success and adopt those policies. In 1971 The state I come from adopted a bottle bill, it has evolved as packaging changes. ALL beer, soda, and water bottles AND cans have a deposit. Return them or lose money. I can assure you, you NEVER see a bottle or can on the side of the road, EVER.
Portugals communal Garbage and recycling sites are laudable, but silly. MOST human beings take the path of least EFFORT, It is easier to just toss everything in the trash. If there is NO penalty for doing so, thats what the vast majority will do.
Sadly, if making a change involves ANY effort or cost, people will do nothing and actively resist change.
If recycling is free and TRASH has a cost, the recycling will increase and trash will decline.
It's just that simple.
By Jonathan Wexler from Other on 11 Nov 2022, 18:14
Shameful is how filthy towns are in the Algarve with litter, dog poo and unkept green areas are. Shockingly filthy.
By S from Other on 11 Nov 2022, 21:59
Even worse Portugal is importing and supposedly processing toxic trash from Italy.
By Diogo F. from Madeira on 12 Nov 2022, 00:50
I make an effort to sort my recyclable waste items and put them in the clearly marked public skips provided for this purpose, but what saddens me is that many people appear to ignore the instructions provided and throw anything in any of the recycling containers, as well as items that it is stated are not wanted. This means the contents of the recyclable waste containers are contaminated with general garbage or the wrong items for recycling. It is depressing to find that although the local authorities make an effort to supply us with a way to recycle our waste, there are members of the public who don't read what is stated about what items are to be included , and don't seem to care where they throw their trash. I presume that much of the recyclable waste that is contaminated with general waste or the wrong types of recyclables ends up in landfill sites. It is such a shame.
By Steve Andrews from Other on 12 Nov 2022, 22:10
People are lazy, it's true. In the US most people are into recycling and I have 2 receptacles in my kitchen for garbage and one for trash. If you confront people you make enemies so I guess the city needs to use fun commercials on tv and Facebook and threaten to raise garbage costs to sort. Put a few celebrities on media recycling telling us to READ the list and in my state they send you 5x7 2 sided flyer on what goes in and a NO section and I still have to check the list and photos occasionally. Dog poo is the walker's responsibility. Carry a plastic bag and paper towels and if you see someone doing nothing about it, shame them. I hear this is becoming a very big problem and not good for tourism when people come back from Portugal and mention a lot of that neglected there; reflects badly on the people.
By Wes from USA on 13 Nov 2022, 07:32