Preview 2026

The work carried out by Electrão in recent years enables an integrated response to the growing needs of companies, in a context where end-of-life product management has become an unavoidable part of their obligations.

The evolution of the European and national regulatory framework has strengthened extended producer responsibility, requiring companies to play an increasingly active role in collection, recycling, and the financing of new systems. This shift is essential for accelerating landfill diversion, ensuring material recovery, and boosting recycling rates.

Among the most pressing challenges is the management of emerging waste streams such as textiles, furniture, and mattresses—areas where many municipalities already provide collection, but where structured systems are still lacking.

Electrão has been closely monitoring developments in these areas, and its accumulated experience allows it to contribute to technically robust solutions, aligned with European best practices and tailored to the national context.

Electrão is therefore well positioned to support the country in developing new collection and recycling systems, which will be key to reducing pressure on landfills and increasing material recovery rates.

In 2026, the ecomodulation system will finally come into force in Portugal. This new regulatory framework directly links the financial contributions paid by producers to the environmental performance of the packaging they place on the market.

Electrão has maintained a critical position regarding the implementation of any ecomodulation model that is not aligned at the European level, as it believes that issues related to ecodesign and product environmental performance should be addressed within that broader context.

With the introduction of ecomodulation, producers of electrical equipment, batteries, and packaging will face additional administrative burdens and a more complex process to identify and declare the environmental characteristics of their products, based on increasingly detailed assessment criteria. This effort may result in a discount of around 8% to 10% on the applicable financial contribution.

This is a demanding and potentially costly mechanism, with the risk of creating significant differences in how each compliance scheme interprets and implements the model, potentially leading to competitive imbalances between producers. Nevertheless, Electrão will remain a committed partner in achieving the objectives set by the authorities and will support its members in implementing this reporting process as efficiently as possible.

The European Union is advancing several circular economy initiatives aimed at reducing remaining barriers in the functioning of the internal market, particularly in the waste management sector. Despite progress, administrative and operational obstacles between Member States persist, hindering the movement of waste intended for recovery and recycling.

Cross-border shipments of waste within the EU still face lengthy administrative procedures and high costs, which disadvantage countries with limited domestic treatment capacity—such as Portugal—that depend on sending certain waste streams to specialized facilities abroad.

Paradoxically, these constraints run counter to the very principle of the single market, which should enable smoother circulation of materials for recycling, promoting both economic and environmental efficiency.

In some cases, certain waste streams are not uniformly recognized as circular resources across all Member States, leading to regulatory fragmentation.

Against this backdrop, removing existing barriers and effectively harmonizing the applicable rules are essential steps to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness, increase recycling capacity at the European level, and accelerate the transition to a fully circular economy.

In April 2026, certain types of packaging—namely plastic beverage bottles up to three liters and aluminum or steel cans—became part of the new national deposit return system for beverage packaging, branded “Volta”.

The system introduces a simple mechanism: for each bottle or can purchased, the consumer pays a €0.10 deposit, which is fully refunded when the packaging is returned at a collection point. Returns can be made through machines installed in supermarkets or at manual collection points. The refund may be issued via a voucher convertible into cash or shopping discounts, through digital solutions such as loyalty cards, electronic platforms, or even donated to charitable institutions.

The system aims to help meet European targets for the separate collection of single-use beverage packaging up to three liters, set at 90% by 2029. The national roadmap anticipates collection rates between 40% and 70% in the first year, 80% by 2027, and full compliance with the European target by the end of the decade. At the same time, the system will ensure a high-quality material stream with very low contamination levels.

For packaging compliance schemes such as Electrão, this development brings new challenges, as some members will need to report jointly. This will be a transition year, providing insight into how consumers respond to this new system.

The mandatory targets for incorporating recycled plastic, set out in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), represent a new and demanding benchmark for the packaging sector, which already operates in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

These targets turn what was previously a strategic economic or environmental choice into a universal legal obligation.

Their implementation will have a direct impact on the demand for recycled materials, particularly recycled PET, whose availability is becoming critical in an already highly pressured market. Recycled plastics markets are characterized by significant volatility, influenced by factors such as the price of virgin plastic, the quality and quantity of collected waste, and installed recycling capacity.

For compliance schemes such as Electrão, this new regulatory framework also entails an enhanced role in supporting member companies, monitoring the market, and promoting collection systems that ensure the availability of high-quality recyclable materials.

Electrão has been closely monitoring the development of incentive mechanisms for the return of end-of-life electrical equipment, recognizing their potential to increase collection and recycling rates and to combat the diversion of waste into informal channels. Creating mechanisms that reward responsible consumer behavior represents an opportunity to strengthen the link between consumers, retailers, and the formal waste management system.

Electrical and electronic equipment contains valuable materials, some of which are critical to European industry. The effective recovery of these resources largely depends on the ability to capture more equipment at the end of its life cycle, preventing it from being lost in mixed waste streams or parallel channels. Incentive systems—whether financial, voucher-based, or through other forms of compensation—can play a key role in encouraging timely returns and promoting environmentally responsible behavior.

Electrão is well positioned to support this approach, drawing on its operational experience and accumulated expertise in managing end-of-life electrical equipment. A well-designed incentive system could represent a significant step forward in increasing collection rates, recovering strategic materials, and strengthening a truly circular economy model in Portugal.

In 2025, batteries from electric vehicles and light mobility devices accounted for around 1% of the total batteries collected by Electrão, reaching a volume of 23.3 tonnes. Although this stream still represents a small share of overall waste, it reflects the rapid evolution of urban mobility patterns and points to significant growth in the coming years.

The increasing presence of lithium-ion batteries in everyday life—from e-scooters and electric bicycles to smartphones, tools, and energy storage systems—highlights the importance of promoting proper disposal and treatment practices.

When damaged, punctured, exposed to heat, or improperly discarded, these batteries pose a real risk of fire and even explosion. Incidents reported in several countries underline the need to strengthen preventive measures across the entire value chain.

Raising awareness among citizens and other stakeholders about the safe handling and disposal of these devices is therefore essential. For Electrão, this is a growing strategic priority, requiring continuous investment in training, specialized logistics, and communication. As electric mobility expands, preventing battery-related risks becomes not only an environmental responsibility but also a critical safety requirement.

In a particularly unstable international context, recycling has gained increased importance within the strategic priorities of the European Union. The ability to recover essential materials—many of which are not available within Europe—has made the waste management sector a key ally in ensuring the continent’s industrial autonomy and resilience.

Among these materials are critical resources used in the production of electrical and electronic equipment, a waste stream that is becoming increasingly important as technological and energy demands grow. The efficient recovery of these elements is now embedded in specific European targets, placing collection and recycling systems at the core of achieving them.

In this context, it is clear that a strategy based solely on selective collection is no longer sufficient. Despite two decades of investment in awareness and infrastructure, significant amounts of critical materials are still lost in mixed waste streams. For Europe to move towards material self-sufficiency, it will be essential to strengthen recovery from these streams, aligning efforts between compliance schemes, operators, and technology to identify, extract, and valorize these resources.

The growth of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) is essential to support the integration of renewable energy and increase the flexibility of the electrical system. However, these systems pose significant challenges to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) models, particularly regarding their financing.

BESS, often based on lithium-ion batteries, have a considerable but still uncertain lifespan in many cases, depending on usage, charge cycles, and operating conditions. This factor makes it difficult to predict when they will become waste and, consequently, to estimate future costs of collection, treatment, and recycling. In addition, these are complex systems with associated risks (such as flammability), which require more demanding and costly management processes.

Traditional financing models for EPR systems, based on a “pay-as-you-sell” logic, prove insufficient in this context. As with photovoltaic panels, there is a time gap between the moment products are placed on the market and when the actual costs arise. As the BESS market grows rapidly, there is a risk that, in the future, large volumes of waste will lack adequate funding, especially if some producers cease operations—resulting in so-called “orphan products.”

Furthermore, the BESS sector is highly dynamic and global, with multiple stakeholders and complex value chains, making it difficult to clearly define responsibilities and effectively collect contributions. In this context, it becomes essential to move from a “pay-as-you-sell” model to a reserve accumulation system. Building up funds over the lifetime of the equipment ensures that financial resources will be available when the systems reach end-of-life. This model promotes greater financial stability, reduces the risk associated with orphan products, and ensures a fairer distribution of costs over time.

The growth of solar photovoltaic energy is essential for the energy transition, but it raises significant challenges for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems, particularly in terms of financing.

Photovoltaic panels have a long lifespan (20–30 years), which creates a gap between the moment they are placed on the market and the costs of their end-of-life. Traditional financing models, based on a “pay-as-you-sell” logic—where producers’ contributions finance current costs—prove inadequate in this context. This is because waste volumes are still low today but will increase significantly in the future, when many of the original producers may no longer be in the market.

This risk is compounded by the possibility of “orphan producers” and by the lack of adaptation of EPR systems to the specific characteristics of photovoltaic panels, which may increase collection and treatment costs. Therefore, relying solely on a current financing model may compromise the financial sustainability of the system in the medium and long term.

In this context, it becomes essential to move toward a reserve accumulation model, in which producers’ contributions are partially allocated to funds that ensure the future financing of waste management. This model better aligns financial responsibilities with the moment when costs actually occur, ensuring greater financial stability and intergenerational equity.

In summary, the transition from a “pay-as-you-sell” system to one based on reserve accumulation is crucial to ensure the viability of EPR systems applied to photovoltaic panels and to guarantee the sustainability of solar energy throughout its entire lifecycle.