Portugal's waste comes mostly from homes, the waste industry and building sites, and for 2026 it works out at an estimated 22.5 million tonnes, or roughly 49.6 billion pounds.
Eurostat last measured it in 2022, when Portugal generated 19.7 million tonnes, or 1,883 kg per person against an EU average of 4,981 kg. Households alone made up 27.0% of that total, three times their share across the EU.
Portugal's national waste plan aims to cut total waste to 85.6% of its 2018 level by 2030. In 2022 it generated 19.7 million tonnes, 24.0% above 2018, and its own counts show the total still rising in 2024.
How much waste Portugal generated year by year (2010-2026)
Eurostat measures national waste every two years, so the table runs on even years from 2010, carried forward from 2022 to 2026, with each change set against the previous reading.
| Year | Tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 22,521,182 | +1.2 million (+5.5%) |
| 2024 | 21,356,756 | +1.6 million (+8.4%) |
| 2022 | 19,709,488 | +3.0 million (+18.0%) |
| 2020 | 16,700,459 | +0.8 million (+5.1%) |
| 2018 | 15,894,873 | +1.2 million (+7.8%) |
| 2016 | 14,739,135 | +0.4 million (+2.6%) |
| 2014 | 14,368,003 | +1.0 million (+7.5%) |
| 2012 | 13,359,517 | -0.3 million (-2.1%) |
| 2010 | 13,640,079 | baseline |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, covering all economic activities plus households. 2022 is the newest year published, so the 2024 and 2026 rows are our estimates, built on Portugal's own yearly counts.
Older Portuguese readings swing sharply, from 35.0 million tonnes in 2006 to 16.9 million in 2008, so the table starts at 2010. Every reading since 2012 has been higher than the one before. Between 2010 and 2022 the total grew by 6.1 million tonnes, or 44.5%.
The biggest step came between 2020 and 2022, a rise of 3.0 million tonnes. Two thirds of it was soil, which grew from 0.4 million to 2.4 million tonnes, and the European Environment Agency (EEA) puts the jump down mainly to soils and dredging spoils.
Building Portugal's 2024 and 2026 figures
Eurostat's series stops at 2022, but Portugal counts its waste every year in two parts. Statistics Portugal (INE) surveys the waste of every business sector, and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) counts municipal waste. Both counts run to 2024.
Added together for 2020 and 2022, the two counts land within 0.01% of the totals Eurostat published. The table therefore moves each part of the 2022 total by the change Portugal recorded between 2022 and 2024.
| Part of the total | Change 2022-2024 | 2024 estimate (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|
| Waste from businesses and industry | +9.9% | 15,806,549 |
| Municipal waste | +4.3% | 5,550,207 |
| Total | +8.4% | 21,356,756 |
Note: INE sectoral waste (14,388,388 tonnes in 2022, 15,808,855 in 2024) and APA municipal waste (5,323,000 and 5,550,000), applied to Eurostat's 2022 figures of 14,386,289 tonnes from businesses and 5,323,199 from households.
INE still marks its 2024 figure as provisional, so the 2024 row can move a little when the final count is published.
From 2024 to 2026
Neither INE's nor APA's count reaches 2026, so the 2026 figure rests on three stated assumptions.
- Construction waste keeps slowing. It rose 13.7% in 2023 but only 2.2% in 2024, and it is carried forward at that 2.2% a year.
- Other business waste keeps its recent pace. The rest of INE's count grew 3.7% a year between 2022 and 2024, and it is carried forward at the same rate.
- Municipal waste grows with the population. Portugal's population grew 2.0% between January 2024 and January 2026, and municipal waste moves by the same amount, with waste per person held at its 2024 level.
Together they give 22.5 million tonnes for 2026, 5.5% more than in 2024 and 14.3% more than Eurostat measured in 2022.
How wide the range is
At the low end, nothing grows after 2024 and the 2026 total stays at the 21.4 million tonnes of the 2024 estimate.
At the high end, business waste keeps the 8.5% a year it averaged between 2020 and 2024, and municipal waste rises 4.0% a year as it did in 2024, which gives 24.6 million tonnes.
How Portugal collects and treats its waste
Portugal generated 0.9% of the EU's 2.23 billion tonnes of waste in 2022, the 18th-largest total among the 27 member states. Per person it ranked 25th, ahead of only Croatia and Latvia, and it has almost no mining waste, which made up 22.4% of the EU total.
Municipal waste is handled by regional waste systems that serve groups of municipalities. At the end of 2024 mainland Portugal had 32 landfills in use, 21 mechanical biological treatment plants that sort mixed rubbish and treat its food part, and two incinerators, in Lisbon and Porto.
Most of that waste still arrives mixed. In 2024, 75% of the municipal waste collected on the mainland came from the ordinary rubbish bin and 23% was collected separately, a share APA describes as stagnating. Food and garden waste made up almost half of the mixed bin.
Why are Portuguese households the biggest source?
Counted by who reported it, here is how Portugal's 2022 total breaks down, set beside the same sectors' shares across the EU.
| Sector | Portugal | EU |
|---|---|---|
| Households | 27.0% | 8.8% |
| Water, sewerage and waste treatment | 20.4% | 10.5% |
| Construction | 19.6% | 38.7% |
| Manufacturing | 15.6% | 10.3% |
| Services | 8.7% | 4.6% |
| Waste and scrap wholesale | 6.7% | 0.5% |
| Energy, farming and mining | 2.1% | 26.5% |
Note: Eurostat's waste generation collection, 2022 reference year. Shares are rounded. Portugal's household line is its full municipal waste count, which also takes in similar waste from shops, offices and restaurants.
Portugal ranked second in the EU on the household share, behind only Latvia at 28.0%. Part of the reason is the small total around it, since mining made up 0.2% of Portuguese waste against 22.4% across the EU.
Two smaller lines also stand out. Waste and scrap wholesalers reported 6.7% of the total, against 0.5% across the EU, and ferrous metal waste made up 11.2%, more than three times its EU share.
How soil changed Portugal's construction figure
Construction reported 1.8 million tonnes in 2020 and 3.9 million in 2022, more than double. INE's yearly count shows it still rising, to 4.4 million tonnes in 2023 and 4.5 million in 2024.
Counted by type, soil made up 12.4% of the 2022 total and mineral construction and demolition waste another 12.0%. All mineral waste together came to 26.9%, against 64.4% across the EU.
Municipal waste per person in Portugal
Portugal generated 519 kg of municipal waste per person in 2024, the newest year on Eurostat's record, just above the EU average of 517 kg. In 2023 it had been just below, at 505 kg against 511 kg.
Countries differ in how much commercial waste they count as municipal, so part of any gap is a counting difference. APA puts the 4.0% rise in 2024 partly down to population growth, with tourism and unregistered residents also named.
The packaging Portugal's producers pay for
This is the slice of Portuguese waste that extended producer responsibility makes producers pay for, through their fees to a licensed packaging scheme.
Portugal generated 1,943,997 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, 17.5% more than in 2016. That is 184 kg per person, above the EU average of 178 kg.
Here is the 2023 total by material, with the share of each that was recycled.
| Material | Tonnes | Recycled |
|---|---|---|
| Paper and cardboard | 891,766 | 62.8% |
| Plastic | 437,647 | 39.5% |
| Glass | 432,844 | 55.9% |
| Wood | 95,716 | 94.1% |
| Metal | 86,024 | 50.2% |
Note: Eurostat's packaging waste collection, 2023 reference year, with recycling shares on the basis set for the 2025 targets. The five lines add up to the reported total.
Paper and cardboard made up 45.9% of Portuguese packaging, plastic 22.5% and glass 22.3%. The EEA notes that the wood rate swings from year to year, and has topped 100% in some, because reusable and single-use wooden packaging are hard to tell apart.
Who pays for packaging in Portugal?
Every waste stream in Portugal runs through one register, SILiAmb, the Portuguese producer register run by APA. A producer registers its packaging there and joins a licensed scheme such as Sociedade Ponto Verde, Novo Verde or Electrão.
The schemes' fees vary with how recyclable the packaging is, the EEA notes. An established producer must file its registration itself, while a seller abroad shipping straight to Portuguese end users counts as the producer and has to appoint a representative in Portugal.
Since April 2026, single-use plastic and metal drinks containers up to 3 litres also carry a 10 cent deposit under Volta, Portugal's deposit return scheme, which runs beside the packaging schemes rather than replacing them.
Everything a producer selling into Portugal must register for is set out on Repax's Portugal EPR overview, and the packaging detail on packaging EPR in Portugal.
Portugal's targets and where it stands
Portugal recycled 61.8% of its packaging in 2023, against 67.4% across the EU, 16th among the 23 member states that had reported a 2023 rate. The rate has moved between 55.3% and 63.1% since 2016.
The EU packaging regulation sets recycling targets in its Article 52, due by the end of 2025 and the end of 2030. The table sets Portugal's latest rates, from 2023, the newest year with official figures, against both.
| Packaging | Targets 2025 / 2030 | Portugal's latest rate |
|---|---|---|
| All packaging | 65% / 70% | 61.8% |
| Paper and cardboard | 75% / 85% | 62.8% |
| Glass | 70% / 75% | 55.9% |
| Ferrous metals | 70% / 80% | 73.0% |
| Aluminium | 50% / 60% | 20.0% |
| Wood | 25% / 30% | 94.1% |
| Plastic | 50% / 55% | 39.5% |
Note: Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 52(1). Portugal's rates are Eurostat's, 2023 reference year.
On its 2023 figures Portugal met two of the seven targets due by 2025, for ferrous metals and wood. The overall rate was 3.2 percentage points short, plastic 10.5, paper and cardboard 12.2, glass 14.1 and aluminium 30.0.
Portugal has used an option in the EU packaging rules to push its 2025 deadlines for glass and aluminium back by five years, the EEA reports. Its aluminium rate of 20.0% was the lowest of the 23 member states that had reported a 2023 rate.
Where Portuguese municipal waste goes
In 2024 Portugal sent 51.9% of its municipal waste to landfill, against 21.3% across the EU. That was the fourth-highest share of the 20 member states with a 2024 figure, after Malta, Cyprus and Hungary.
It recycled 32.8% of its municipal waste, against 48.1% across the EU, and sent 22.4% to incineration with energy recovery.
The EU landfill directive requires the landfill share to fall to 10% or less by 2035. The EEA notes that Portugal's landfill rate has been rising again since 2016, and that compost made from mixed rubbish will stop counting as recycling from 2027.
Portugal has set its own reduction goals as well. Its plan for non-municipal waste aims to cut it to 9.3 million tonnes by 2030, and INE counted 15.8 million tonnes in 2024.
For producers weighing up software to handle their SILiAmb declarations, there is a ranked guide to Portuguese EPR software.
Frequently asked questions about Portugal's waste
Below are the eight questions readers ask most about Portugal's waste figures.
How much waste does Portugal produce each year?
Portugal is estimated to produce around 22.5 million tonnes of waste in 2026, up from the 19.7 million Eurostat measured in 2022. That 2022 total was the 18th-largest in the EU, at 1,883 kg per person against an EU average of 4,981 kg.
Can Portugal's waste be compared with other countries?
Only with care. Eurostat says the differences between countries reflect consumption and wealth but also depend on how municipal waste is collected and managed, so part of any gap between Portugal and another member state comes from counting, not from rubbish.
Why is so little of Portugal's waste mineral?
Portugal has almost no mining waste, 0.2% of its 2022 total against 22.4% across the EU. Soil, rubble and other mineral waste made up 26.9% of the total, so homes, factories and the waste sector carry a far larger share than elsewhere.
How much of Portugal's municipal waste goes to landfill?
In 2024 Portugal sent 51.9% of its municipal waste to landfill, against 21.3% across the EU. EU rules require that share to fall to 10% or less by 2035, and APA's own count put it at 52% in 2024.
How much packaging waste does Portugal generate?
Portugal generated 1,943,997 tonnes of packaging waste in 2023, or 184 kg per person, above the EU average of 178 kg. Paper and cardboard made up 45.9% of it, plastic 22.5% and glass 22.3%.
Does Portugal meet the EU packaging recycling targets?
On its 2023 figures Portugal met two of the seven targets due by 2025, for ferrous metals and wood. Its overall rate was 61.8% against a 65% target, and aluminium packaging was furthest behind at 20.0% against 50%.
Does Portugal have a deposit return scheme?
Yes. Volta started in April 2026 and puts a 10 cent deposit on single-use plastic and metal drinks containers up to 3 litres, paid back when they are returned. It started after the newest packaging figures on this page, which are for 2023.
Where do Portugal's 2024 figures come from?
From Portugal's own counts. Statistics Portugal surveys the waste of every business sector each year and the Portuguese Environment Agency counts municipal waste, and their 2024 totals of 15.8 and 5.6 million tonnes give the 2024 estimate of 21.4 million.
Images: Xemenendura
