COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Portugal Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal waste
Date: 2018-09-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Portugal, application of EU law, circular economy, environmental law, environmental protection, pollution control, prevention of pollution, waste, waste management

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.9.2018 SWD(2018) 422 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Portugal Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal waste {COM(2018) 656 final} - {SWD(2018) 413 final} - {SWD(2018) 414 final} - {SWD(2018) 415 final} - {SWD(2018) 416 final} - {SWD(2018) 417 final} - {SWD(2018) 418 final} - {SWD(2018) 419 final} - {SWD(2018) 420 final} - {SWD(2018) 421 final} - {SWD(2018) 423 final} - {SWD(2018) 424 final} - {SWD(2018) 425 final} - {SWD(2018) 426 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

This early warning report is part of the Commission's overall implementation report and aims 
to assist Member States at risk of failing to meet the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-
use/recycling of municipal waste set out in Article 11(2)(a) of Directive 2008/98/EC. It builds 
on  previous  support  provided  by  the  Commission  to  help Member  States  comply1  with  EU 
law in the area of municipal waste management. This resulted in country-specific roadmaps2 
being drawn up for the relevant Member States.  

The  assessment  underpinning  the  early  warning  report  is  based  on  a  collaborative  and 
transparent process involving the Member States concerned and an in-depth analysis of their 
most  recent  policy  developments.  This  also  involved  extensive  consultation  with  the 
authorities in charge of waste management.  

The possible actions identified during this process are based on the existing best practices and 
aim  to  help  Member  States  in  meeting  the  2020  municipal  waste  preparation  for  re-
use/recycling target; they therefore focus on policy measures that can be taken forward in the 
short  term.  These  actions  should  be  seen  as  complementary  to  those  recommended  in  the 
roadmaps that were drawn up as part of the preceding compliance promotion activities and to 
the recommendations made in the Environmental Implementation Review3. 

2.  Key findings  

In  2016,  Portugal’s  municipal  waste  recycling  rate  (including  composting)  reported  to 
Eurostat was 31 %, while its landfilling rate was 45 %. Based on an analysis of existing and 
firmly  planned  policies  in  the  area  of  waste  management,  Portugal  is  considered  at  risk  of 
missing the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-use/recycling of municipal waste. 

The assessment4 that underpins the early warning report concludes that the separate collection 
of  recyclables,  including  bio-waste,  is  not  yet  effective  and  Portugal  relies  heavily  on 
treatment  of  mixed  municipal  waste.  In  addition,  the  economic  incentives  to  support 
recycling are insufficient and the extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes in Portugal 
do not fully cover the costs of separate collection. 

The  table  below  lists  possible  actions  to  support  Portugal’s  efforts  to  improve  its  waste 
management. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/support_implementation.htm 
2 Roadmap for Portugal: 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/pdf/facsheets%20and%20roadmaps/Roadmap_Portugal.
pdf 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/country-reports/index2_en.htm 
4 Eunomia Research & Consulting et al. (2018) ‘Study to identify Member States at risk of non-compliance with 
the 2020 target of the Waste Framework Directive and to follow-up phase 1 and 2 of the compliance 
promotion exercise. The early warning report: Portugal.’ 

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OVERVIEW OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE 

Contribution of Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities to recycling 

1)  Review of the calculations that are currently being used to determine the contribution to 

the target that is assumed to come from increased recycling in MBT facilities. 

2)  Assessment  whether  the  current  projected  MBT  performance  is  realistic  and,  if 
necessary,  review  of  the  efficiency  of  policies  that  encourage  separate  collection  to 
consider whether they will be sufficient to make up for the shortfall. 

Separate collection 

3)  Assessment of the current fee levels (to be paid by the waste management systems that 
do  not  meet  recycling  targets)  to  consider  if  these  are  high  enough  to  serve  as  an 
incentive  to  introduce  the  effective  separate  collection  systems.  Depending  on  the 
results a review of fees may need to be considered urgently. 

4)  Review of waste collection scheme funding by Agencia Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA) 
and  Entidade  Reguladora  dos  Serviços  de  Águas  e  Resíduos  (ERSAR)  to  ensure  that 
there is enough funding to roll out door-to-door collection schemes. 
If  funding  is  deemed  insufficient,  consideration  of  additional  funding  sources,  taking 
into account: 
a.  the changes in funding that will occur following the review of the household waste 

fee, which will come into effect in 2019; and 

b.  the scope for increasing the fees paid by packaging producers. 

5)  Consideration  of  introducing  legislation  to  ensure  that  the  producer  responsibility 

schemes (PROs)  develop deposit refund systems. 

Technical support to municipalities 

6)  Development  of  a  system  at  national  level  that  provides  technical  support  for  local 

councils, specifically in the following areas: 

a.  choosing collection services;  
b.  service procurement; 
c.  service management; 
d.  communication campaigns; 

coupled with active sharing of good ideas and practices that can improve efficiency in terms 
of cost reduction and improvement in performance. 

Communication and awareness-raising 

7)  Development of a set of national communications materials addressed to the public for 
use at local level, with clear and consistent messages, and with particular focus on bio-
waste.  These  materials  should  be  used  as  part  of  awareness-raising  campaigns,  in 
leaflets and at civic amenity sites. 

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8)  Optimum use of the communication budget by APA via: 

a.  taking  a  more  active  role  in  identifying  areas  where  funding  is  most  needed, 

ensuring campaigns are carried out alongside collection service updates; 

b.  ensuring  that  funding  can  be  accessed  by  municipalities,  especially  by  the  better-

performing, larger municipalities; and 

c.  putting in place methods by which municipalities can learn from each other. 

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