Raquel Barroso questions the “collective illusion” about waste in Portugal

Raquel Barroso underlined that the debate on waste in Portugal is dominated by a collective illusion that trash can simply “disappear”. In an article published by Jornal Expresso, the senior associate lawyer at Abreu Advogados stated that “waste continues to be treated as an almost metaphysical entity”, ignoring the fact that even in the most advanced recycling and circular economy systems there is always a final fraction that needs a controlled destination, usually sanitary landfills.

Raquel Barroso criticised the political and social discourse that demonizes landfills while at the same time demanding recycling and ambitious environmental targets. “Sanitary landfills are not open-air dumps”, she argued, clarifying that these infrastructures are technically regulated, necessary, and an unavoidable part of the system.

“If we want to protect the environment, we can no longer pretend that waste simply goes away”, she concluded, adding that Portugal is still far from other European realities, where “waste management is treated as a permanent strategic matter”.

Read the full article here (available in Portuguese).