Lisbon will be the largest beneficiary, receiving €41,153.02, while Alvito will receive the smallest amount, €325. The figures apply to municipalities in mainland Portugal, and the autonomous regions have yet to be defined.

According to Jornal de Negócios, the decree establishes for the first time the financial contributions that tobacco producers must pay to local authorities. These sums are calculated based on four types of territory: urban, semi-urban, rural, and beach areas.

The contributions are based on a proposal submitted by Único – Associação de Gestão de Plásticos de Uso Único ( Single-Use Plastics Management Association), which has held a license since the end of 2024 to operate Portugal’s first extended producer responsibility system for waste from filtered tobacco products.

This bill was drawn up in consultation with the National Association of Parishes and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities.

Único is a non-profit organisation that brings together companies placing tobacco products on the Portuguese market, including BAT, Imperial Brands, JTI, Landewick, Tabaqueira, and Electrão. Pedro Nazareth, Único’s chairman, said the central change lies in making companies financially accountable for the waste generated by their products.

In addition, the new rules are expected to advocate for transparency to the real costs of urban cleaning, currently estimated at around €300 million a year nationwide. Nazareth continued that the system could also improve efficiency, as companies will have a stronger incentive to understand the methods, infrastructure, and criteria municipalities use for street cleaning.

However, the producers’ responsibilities will not be limited to paying contributions, with Único reinforcing that member companies are also committed to reducing the improper disposal of tobacco waste and to working with municipalities on measures such as public awareness campaigns.

The decree also requires Único to submit a national study on urban cleaning waste in 2026 to the Portuguese Environment Agency and the Directorate-General for the Economy. This study must follow the European Commission’s guidelines and cover a representative sample of municipalities, accounting for different territorial types and population densities.

The sample must represent about 2 million inhabitants and collect data over a 12-month period. Once the study has been assessed and options have been gathered from the autonomous regions and the Water and Waste Services Regulatory Authority, the government will consider whether the current estimates of urban cleaning costs need to be revised.

The obligation for tobacco producers to bear the costs of managing the end-of-life of filtered tobacco products stems from a European directive already transposed into Portuguese law. Under this legislation, companies must finance the clean-up of waste improperly discarded in public spaces — including beaches — as well as the collection, transport and treatment costs borne by public waste management systems.