In a statement to mark the occasion of International Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Day, celebrated today, Zero – Sustainable Earth System Association holds the Ministry of the Environment and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) responsible for the situation.

The association states that, according to data from ERP Portugal – Waste and Electronics Management Entity, responsible for managing this waste, last year, "165,000 tons" of WEEE "were discharged into the environment or received from illegal scrap dealers who failed to decontaminate them," with Portugal collecting "only 26% of WEEE, when the EU target it was required to meet was 65%.

"Every day, large quantities of substances contained in this waste are released. These substances are toxic to public health and the environment, such as PCBs (carcinogens), refrigerant gases from refrigerators (which deplete the ozone layer and cause climate change), plastics with flame retardants (carcinogens), and other toxic substances, including mercury, leaded glass, heavy metals, batteries, and lubricating oils."

Zero emphasizes that, for several years, officials at the Ministry of the Environment and the APA have done "nothing" to properly manage this waste, despite being aware of the reality, allowing "the WEEE management entities they license to operate with very low budgets that impede the development of a good collection network."

Zero also criticizes the “feigned ignorance” about the "vast network of illegal scrap dealers, where most WEEE ends up being sent."

To "exponentially increase" WEEE collection, the environmental association proposes the creation of "a deposit/refund system in which, as is recommended for beverage packaging, the consumer pays a deposit upon the purchase of new equipment, which will be refunded upon the return of equivalent old equipment."

"This proposal was forwarded to the new Secretary of State for the Environment, and Zero hopes that, unlike in the past, this time it will be well received by the Ministry," it adds.

In mid-April, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, said that the General Inspectorate of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning (IGAMAOT) had completed an audit of the control of WEEE treatment, which would allow for seeing if everything was “working optimally” or if it would be necessary to “fine-tune the system”.