Recycling

In Portugal, the WEEE Directive was transposed into the national legislative framework by the Decree-Law no. 67/2014 of 7 May, recently updated by the Decree-Law no. 152-D / 2017 of 11 December.

This legislation has as its main objective the prevention, reduction and recycling of WEEE or other forms of its recovery, in order to reduce its quantity and improve the environmental performance of all stakeholders in the life cycle of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE): producers, retailers, consumers and waste operators.

The recycling goals defined in this document are more ambitious than the previous ones (4kg / inhabitant), reached in our country, namely:

• from 2016: 45% of the average weight of EEE put on the market in the previous three years, taking into account the total weight of WEEE collected from private and non-private users;
• from 2019: 65% of the average EEE weight put on the market in the previous three years or, alternatively, 85% of the WEEE generated in Portugal, considering the total weight of WEEE collected from private and non-private users.

The effort of the whole society is fundamental to ensure the fulfillment of these goals.

With the increasing of uncontrolled consumption of products (such as electrical and electronic appliances), product life cycles are becoming smaller, increasing the volume of waste generated and requiring specific routing, including WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and WBA (Waste of Batteries and Accumulators).

Recycling is positive and beneficial to people, businesses and the environment.

After being collected through the correct channels, WEEE proceed to the consolidation phase, where they are segmented into groups (operational treatment categories) and can be prepared for reuse.

The stage of obtaining raw materials (recycling) closes the circuit and gives rise to the manufacture of new products (incorporation of materials in the industry).