Spain and Portugal

Waste Management

Like the rest of Europe, Spain and Portugal have had to deal with the problems arising from the huge quantities of waste they produce and the significant changes in the nature of such waste—containing more and more artificial products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper, glass, plastic, electronic waste, and hazardous substances. The changes in the amount and nature of waste took place alongside other factors of the post–World War II era, in particular, industrial development, economic growth, changes in patterns of consumption, and membership in the EU. Compliance with European norms and the availability of sizable funding have enabled Portugal and Spain to make significant improvements in legislation, waste treatment infrastructure, information systems, and specific regulation for different types of waste. Joining the EU was an event of fundamental importance: environmental policy in the two countries has been influenced much more by outside forces and agendas and less by endogenous pressure from civic movements and national political forces.

Waste management policies in both countries are subject to the rules and regulations of the EU. Portugal and Spain have developed national strategic plans for each type of waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy, which requires member states to reduce the amount and harmfulness of wastes; to reuse and recycle; and finally, when any of these options are not available, to use wastes as a source of energy (for example, by incineration), with depositing waste in landfills the least desirable option. These plans also comply with the principles of “self-sufficiency” and “proximity” in waste disposal, which demand that each member state should be self-sufficient in treating its wastes and that waste be disposed of as close as possible to where it is produced, as well as the “polluter pays” principle, according to which the costs of waste disposal should be borne by the holder.

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