Electrão collected more than 20 thousand tons of electrical equipment, but results remain “well below expectations”

More than 20,000 tons of used electrical equipment were collected and recycled in the first half of this year, Eletrão reported this Tuesday.

In a statement released, the company states that, in 2024, approximately 57,000 tons of electrical equipment were collected and sent for recycling through national management systems, of which 36,400 tons were sent for recycling by Electrão.

“For Portugal to have reached the 65% target, it would have needed to have collected around 150,000 tonnes, according to estimates based on the average quantity of electrical equipment placed on the market over the last three years, equivalent to approximately 15 kilos of equipment per inhabitant,” warns the Association.

Although there has been an increase in collections in recent years, national results remain far below expectations.

Eletrão warns that the “domestic and business accumulation of disused electrical equipment, combined with the lack of adequate separation, continues to remove thousands of tons of valuable materials from the official recycling circuit every year.”

Another problem is the parallel market for electrical waste, which continues to divert large quantities of equipment from the formal recycling circuit, with many of them being collected in parallel channels and treated as scrap metal, without respecting environmental standards.

"Recycling electrical equipment is essential to securing raw materials such as lithium, copper, and aluminum, which are vital for Europe's energy and digital transition," the Association emphasizes on International Electrical Waste Day.