WORKSHOP “PAYT in Portugal…what future?” carried out by the LIFEPAYT Project team was a success

The Workshop “PAYT in Portugal…what Future?” which took place online on May 6, 2021, aroused national interest and brought together representatives of the most diverse entities with responsibilities in the field of waste: from regulatory and legislative bodies, responsible and technicians of waste management systems, municipalities, municipal companies and Academy. The high number of applications received, from North to South of the country, from the most diverse entities, clearly showed the relevance of the theme in today’s society.

The event had more than a hundred participants (131), the public being mostly made up of city council officials and technicians (57%), followed by Management Entities (15%) consulting companies (6%), academia (6%), among others.

The Workshop featured an intervention by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Dr. Inês Costa. This was followed by a first panel, moderated by Professor Graça Martinho, from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, which addressed change strategies with interventions by Miguel Nunes, from ERSAR, Rodrigo Gonçalves, from APA, João João Vaz, from Ecogestus and Paulo Fonseca, from DECO.

In a second panel, moderated by Professor Isabel Nunes, from the University of Aveiro, practical examples of the implementation of PAYT systems were presented, namely José Pinto who brought his experience in the municipality of Silves, Pedro Sobral, who exposed the implementation of these systems in the Alentejo context,  Vera Neves, with the experience of São João da Madeira, and Carlos Mendes, with the example of the implementation of the PAYT system in the municipality of Maia.

This Workshop contributed to a perception of the current state of implementation of PAYT-type systems in Portugal and, above all, to inform and clarify some questions on this matter.

All speaker presentations, as well as the Workshop video, are available at Events | LIFE PAYT (life-payt.eu).