Portugal is collecting and treating less than half the amount of electronic waste required under European targets, according to environmental association ZERO, which has described the country’s management of e-waste as a “disaster”.
Marking International E-Waste Day, the organisation pointed to the latest official data from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), showing that Portugal collected and treated just 32% of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in 2024. The European Union target is 65%.
ZERO says responsibility for the poor performance lies largely with public authorities, particularly the Environment Ministry, APA and Directorate-General for Economic Activities (DGAE).
“There are many reasons for this challenge, but they all stem from the actions or omissions of the three public bodies which, over the past 20 years, should have ensured the proper management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment,” the association said.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Portugal’s WEEE management system, known as SIGREEE, but ZERO argues that the period has instead been marked by “boycotts and illegalities”.
Targets repeatedly missed
ZERO says that during the first 12 years of the system, up to 2018, the APA allowed electronic waste shredded in scrap-processing facilities to count towards the collection targets of management entities such as Electrão and ERP, despite there being no evidence that the waste had first been properly decontaminated.
After 2018, those quantities stopped counting towards the targets.
Since then, ZERO says the management entities have repeatedly failed to meet the targets set out in their licences.
The association argues that the financial penalties imposed were too small to change behaviour.
The entities were initially required to pay a Waste Management Fee of €10 per tonne for missing targets – a level which ZERO says was so low that it “continued to make the mismanagement of WEEE economically viable”.
When the government later increased the fee, ZERO claims the APA introduced a new calculation formula which significantly reduced the amounts payable.
The association also criticises the decision to postpone compliance with the European collection target until 2030.
Concerns over hazardous substances
ZERO says the problem goes beyond collection rates.
“In addition to the low WEEE collection rate, management bodies, in many cases, hand over the collected WEEE to treatment companies that do not meet the minimum requirements for the removal of hazardous substances,” it alleged.
It then accused the APA of having “turned a blind eye to this situation” instead of intervening.
Electronic waste can contain substances which pose risks to public health and the environment if not properly separated and treated.
ZERO has also criticised the Waste Management Monitoring Committee (CAGER), saying it has never functioned properly and has now been inactive for around two years.
The association warns that the consequences could eventually become financial as well as environmental.
It says the “disastrous management of WEEE has very significant impacts on public health and the environment” and warns that, from 2027 onwards, Portugal could face “a bill of several hundred million euros” payable to the European Union for electronic waste that is not properly managed.