Environmental group Zero has described plans to build a new waste incineration facility in the Algarve as a decision that amounts to a huge “mismanagement” of the public interest, arguing that waste prevention, reuse, and recycling should instead be the region’s priorities.
“The construction of a new incinerator represents a poor decision for multiple reasons, including the diversion of vital financial resources from a sector that requires significant investment to genuinely promote the circular economy,” the environmental group said in a statement.
The criticism follows Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho’s announcement on Saturday in Faro that the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) is to move ahead with plans for an energy-from-waste facility in the region.
According to Zero, the infrastructure “will jeopardise” Portugal’s ability to meet its recycling targets, given that the country already incinerates almost 20% of its waste.
“If the target for 2035 is 65% recycling, and 10% can go to landfill, that leaves just 5% to be incinerated. Is such an investment justified for 5%? Where does reduction fit in, something the minister talks about so often?” the environmental group asks.
The campaigners are firmly against the Government’s strategy, arguing that reducing landfill disposal to 10% by 2035 cannot be considered separately from the European targets for preparing waste for reuse and recycling.
The association points out that Portugal currently sends 54% of its waste to landfill, according to figures cited by the minister, and argues that the country is failing to meet the European target of 55% for preparation for reuse and recycling.
In Zero’s view, incineration should be a “last resort”, following the implementation of measures such as convenient separate collection systems, decentralised composting, and policies aimed at waste prevention and reuse.
The environmental organisation has also warned of the financial impact of the proposed facility. The investment, which could exceed €300 million, would ultimately be reflected in the charges paid by municipalities, residents, and businesses.
An increased reliance on incineration, it adds, would divert funding away from circular-economy solutions and could prolong dependence on treatment methods considered less appropriate under the European waste hierarchy.
The environmentalists also reject the argument that population growth and tourism in the Algarve, in themselves, justify the construction of an incinerator. They point to examples of European regions facing similarly high levels of tourism pressure that have achieved better recycling rates through separate collection systems.
“Waste management in tourist areas cannot be based on collection systems focused on unsorted waste. Algarve municipalities have procrastinated in making decisions and have been complicit in extremely poor collection management,” Zero said.
The association said it would request “an urgent meeting” with the Environment Minister to seek clarification over her statements concerning the proposed energy-from-waste facility and the wider strategy for waste management in the Algarve district of Faro.
On Saturday, the minister said that the APA would launch a tender to study the technical strategy for the facility, as well as its location, by 15 October.
The Algarve’s two operational landfills, in Loulé and Portimão, have capacity for waste for a maximum of only two more years, she added. The region produces around 400,000 tonnes of waste annually and has the highest per-capita waste production in Portugal, partly because tourists are not included in the population figures used to calculate the average.
Maria da Graça Carvalho said the solution under consideration would be implemented “in agreement” with the Algarve’s 16 municipalities, represented by the regional intermunicipal community (AMAL), and would enable the region to address its “waste problem” while making use of available European funding.
Source: Zero / LUSA
Photo credit: Rui Duarte Silva
