Portugal announces new waste strategy and agency reforms

Portugal's Minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, has announced the ‘Terra +’ strategy, a national plan aimed at transforming waste management. The strategy seeks to reduce waste sent to landfills to just 10% by 2035. To achieve this, the government has rejected the construction of new landfills, focusing instead on prevention, behavioral changes, waste separation, and recycling solutions such as biomethane production.

The plan involves a total investment of 2.3 billion euros between 2026 and 2030, with 1.6 billion euros coming from public funds. The Minister noted that energy recovery from waste is being evaluated for regions with complex situations, such as the Algarve, where landfills are nearing capacity.

Additionally, the Minister confirmed that the restructuring of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) is nearly complete. This reorganization aims to simplify licensing processes by reducing administrative steps and deadlines, shifting the focus from prior procedures to subsequent inspection to increase efficiency and predictability.