Environmental association ZERO has slammed plans to expand the Algar waste landfill in Portimão, calling the project “illegal” and “harmful to the environment.”
The Algarve’s regional development commission (CCDR Algarve) recently placed the project’s Environmental Impact Study (EIA) under public consultation, which ended on September 22. But ZERO argues that the study itself should never have been put forward, claiming it concerns a project that “clearly breaches Portuguese law.”
According to ZERO, Algar (the regional waste management company) intends to dispose of more than 1.5 million tonnes of urban waste at the site over the next decade – much of it untreated organic waste, which is explicitly banned under national landfill regulations.
The group points to Decree-Law 24/2024, which prohibits the dumping of any waste that has not undergone prior treatment, including proper sorting and stabilisation.
“The new landfill cell project does not provide for either adequate sorting or treatment of organic waste,” ZERO said. “It is therefore completely illegal under current law.”
The expansion plan foresees 150,000 tonnes of waste per year, roughly 40% organic, which ZERO warns would lead to “odour problems, disease-carrying pests such as insects, birds, and rodents, and the production of polluting toxic leachate that is “difficult to treat.”
The group also warns that burying untreated organic waste will release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that drives global warming.
Even the Environmental Impact Study admits that the existing Portimão landfill is responsible for 55% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the municipality, ZERO points out.
ZERO says the project reflects the “poor performance of Algar”. According to data from the Portuguese Environment Agency, in 2023, Algar sent 77% of all collected waste – around 320,000 tonnes – to its two landfills, much of it without prior treatment, which the group says is illegal.
As an alternative, the environmental organisation is calling for a complete overhaul of the region’s waste strategy, built on four main pillars:
- Door-to-door selective collection instead of reliance on recycling bins (ecopontos);
- A Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) system linking fees to the amount of non-recyclable waste produced instead of water consumption – mandatory for businesses from 2025 and for all users by 2030;
- Installation of Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) plants to process mixed waste, recover recyclables and prevent organic material from going to landfill;
- Support for private recycling and treatment projects targeting large producers such as hotels and restaurants.
ZERO argues that these measures could divert more than 65% of waste away from landfill, avoiding the need for costly incineration plants that would increase emissions and undermine recycling efforts in the region.
