On 30 December 2025, Decree-Law No. 139-A/2025 was published, amending Decree-Law No. 152-D/2017, which consolidates the legal framework governing the management of specific waste streams subject to the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Under the principle of EPR, producers are responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, including the management of waste generated post-consumption. Practically, this means that a producer is not only accountable for the manufacture and sale of a product but must also ensure that, once it becomes waste, it is collected, recycled, recovered, or disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner.
This legislative amendment arises from the need to establish an incentive or deposit system applicable to the flow of WEEE, providing the necessary legal framework and ensuring compliance with PRR milestone TC-C12-r39.
The amendment requires the approval of a legal framework enabling the future implementation, through a joint ministerial order issued by the members of Government responsible for finance, economy, and the environment, of a take-back system intended to promote the collection, recovery, and proper management of electronic waste.
The Decree-Law modifies Article 58 of Decree-Law No. 152-D/2017, establishing the obligation, as of 31 December 2026, to operate an incentive or deposit system applicable to WEEE. It further provides that the operational, technical, and financial criteria of the system will be defined subsequently in dedicated regulation.
This amendment represents a decisive step towards the implementation of structured circular economic mechanisms, aimed at:
(a) strengthening selective collection,
(b) increasing take-back rates, and
(c) aligning the national regime with Portugal’s environmental commitments at the European level.
The Decree-Law entered into force on the day following its publication, i.e., 31 December 2025, allowing the Portuguese Government to initiate the regulatory process necessary to operationalize the future incentive or deposit system for electronic waste, which will become mandatory from 31 December 2026.
Belzuz Abogados, S.L.P. – Portuguese Branch is available to advise its clients on the implementation and compliance with legislative amendments relating to waste management, extended producer responsibility, incentive or deposit systems, and other corporate and regulatory obligations.