Portugal was very successful in reducing plastic bags, but other waste management goals – Observer
You have free access to all the articles of the Observer for being our subscriber.
The result of the measures planned to reduce the single use of plastic bags in Portugal “far exceeded expectations, with a huge retraction in completed consumption”, an audit by the Court of Auditors. From a consumption that was one of the highest in Europe — a green packaging project for a tax reform aimed at around 500 inhabitants per year (466 single-use) — it dropped to an average that corresponds to just over % of this diploma of the estimated amount before the2.
This was the first year of application of the contribution of 8 cents for light plastic packaging and for one of the most emblematic measures of the green tax reform approved by the Government of Passos Coelho. The goal was to reduce consumption to a maximum of 35 bags/inhabitant per year, but this goal was largely exceeded in 2015, according to the audits. The lowest number was reached in 2018 (5.9 bags per inhabitant per year), having risen to 7.5 bags in 2019, according to data from the Tax Authority. Even so, underlined the Court of Auditors, this number is far below the European Union’s targets, which established a limit of 90 bags per inhabitant by 2019 and 40 bags by 2025.
A consequence of the great success in changing behavior is the evolution of revenue from this, which reached one million euros in the first residual year of application (1.3 million euros) and which fell to a residual value of application of 15 thousand euros 2019 .
But despite the undeniable success of this initiative, other measures that Portugal has adopted to meet waste reduction and collection targets were sufficient to ensure compliance with the urban targets for 2020 management in various indicators on production and management. For the Court of Auditors, the effects of the pandemic only explain part of this failure to the extent that “they accentuated trajectories that already indicated non-compliance”.
The recovery objectives and compatible with the residues of progress have already been met, but the Court has doubts that the commitment will continue in the near future, with much more ambitious progress data that is not close to the future with the maintenance of current policies” .
The had to assess whether the State is developing policies and being implemented as measures for the country to achieve as goals the urban management of plastic waste. The Court concludes that these policies have been implemented, referring to the National Waste Management Plan 201/20 (PNGR) and the Strategic Plan for Urban Waste (PERSU 2020/2020+) — measures have not been enough.
Among the targets that have been achieved in 2020 are percentages for selective sorting and recycling — with a readiness rate for reuse and recycling dropping to 28%, well below the 50% target. The Court recognizes that the pandemic has brought about a change in the management of urban waste with an increase in the position of waste in garbage, which negatively affected the achievement of the targets. Part of this situation is explained by exceptional measures sustained on public health grounds.
2000 kg was reached by an increase in plastic waste (where 5 in Portugal) most urban waste, about 64%, will stop a landfill. 17% is used for energy recovery, 9% goes to recycling. Composting and anaerobic digestion is the target of 7%.
The audit also highlights that Portugal has been a “net importer of plastic waste with the exception of 2019”, considering that the market situation in question “the profitability of the collection process and preparation for reuse and recycling”. Even though a waste management fee has been increased to 202 penalize landfilling.
The alert also warns of the great demand of the urban waste recycling goals for 2025, 2030 and 2035, which “imposes the need for urgent and transformative policies on systems that have little potential for progress”. And it warns the European Union that the results from the weight of the national contribution were calculated from the important waste generated by each mother state”.