The Portuguese government will study the possibility of building an incinerator in the Algarve, as the two landfills in the region are practically full. The Minister of Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, confirmed that energy recovery from waste is one of the solutions under evaluation, given that waste production in the Algarve is double the national average.
The Portuguese Environment Agency is expected to launch, on October 15, a study to identify the best technology and location for a possible incinerator in the Algarve. The minister highlighted that current energy recovery facilities are much cleaner than in the past, mentioning the example of a similar infrastructure in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark.
The Executive approved in Council of Ministers the Terra+ strategy, which aims to reduce the amount of waste deposited in landfills and establishes as a national objective reducing this percentage to 10% by 2035. The government explicitly rejected the construction of new landfills in the country as part of this strategy.
The Terra+ strategy includes a total investment of 2.3 billion euros, of which 1.6 billion corresponds to public funding between 2026 and 2030. The document provides for prevention measures, behavioral change, waste separation, reuse, recycling, and different treatment solutions, including the use of waste for biomethane production. The strategy was approved in general terms in April and was subject to public consultation before final approval.
