Portugal needs an "efficiency shock" in its landfill figures and water supply losses, according to the Minister of the Environment Jorge Moreia da Silva, speaking today at the Smart Waste Portugal conference.
According to the minister, the country has made excellent progress in water infrastructure, waste water treatment, bathing water quality, the number of blue flags on Portugal’s beaches, reducing landfill, promoting recycling and producing renewable energy – but it is all relative.
Despite the description that all is well, the minister went on to tell the 33 companies whose representatives were present at the conference that Portugal's waste and water systems could hardly be called efficient.
"A country that still puts 50% of its waste in landfill sites, loses 40% of the water it distributes and depends on 70% of its energy from abroad needs an 'efficiency shock' in order to align growth strategies and competitiveness with the more efficient use of resources."
Smart Waste Portugal was created in February with members involved in household, industrial and or agricultural waste handling.
"We launched a challenge to 300 companies, universities and associations dealing in waste and so far have a membership of 33 from all these sectors," said the association president, Aires Pereira.
Smart Waste Portugal’s first initiative was to commission a study to overcome the sector's ignorance and get a feel for the sector’s business potential.
Comments
Quoting Karel:
Where on earth did you see that? Sorry, but that is nonsense!
In Central Portugal you can see small valleys getting filled in. Or temporary waste sites zoned for housing development - as some sort of trade off by the municipal to allow the building afterwards.
Bearing out the often stated suspicion that the only difference between the Italian and Portuguese Mafia's - organised crime - is that in Italy the local peasants can point out areas wasted by the previous uncontrolled poisoning to outsiders and journalists.
The Italian Mafia being still largely on the outside of decision making. In Portugal the Mafia are the decision makers in the local government - and so the little people, although fully aware, keep silent !!
It is he who should be concentrating on clearing up the waste which is currently pumped into Ria Formosa; who should be pressing the water authorities to cut down distribution waste in the water systems; who should be ensuring that recycled material is not dumped in landfill.
"…in order to align growth strategies and competitiveness with the more efficient use of resources." Like so much managementspeak, it looks like English, it even sounds like English, but it means precisely nothing. It is not Portugal that needs to change. It is the government, and more precisely the Minister for the Environment who needs to buck up his ideas.