Amendment to the General Waste Management Regime
Meet The Law - Energy & Climate Change
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On 27 October, Decree-Law No. 205/2026 was published, introducing the fifth amendment to the General Waste Management Regime ("RGGR"), approved by Annex I to Decree-Law No. 102-D/2020 of 10 December.
The main changes introduced by the Decree-Law are the following:
- Revision of the Waste Management Fee ("TGR") revenue allocation model, ensuring that at least 60% of the revenue is transferred to the Environmental Fund and allocated to the financing of waste management and circular economy projects;
- Expansion of the role of municipal, intermunicipal and multimunicipal waste management systems, allowing them, on a subsidiary basis and in the absence of licensed private operators, to collect, transport and treat urban waste not covered by the public service reservation regime, as well as non-urban waste;
- Introduction of new obligations regarding construction and demolition waste ("CDW"), including the undertaking of pre-demolition audits and selective deconstruction measures aimed at increasing the reuse and recovery of materials;
- Strengthening of the regime applicable to asbestos-containing CDW, providing that its collection may be carried out by municipal systems in certain private construction works exempt from prior administrative control;
- Implementation of Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 on waste shipments, through the digitalization of administrative procedures and interoperability with the European Commission’s central electronic system.
The Decree-Law enters into force 30 days after its publication. However, transitional arrangements apply to certain measures: (i) the new rules governing the allocation of TGR revenues take effect as of 1 January 2026; (ii) the 40%/60% allocation threshold enters into force on 1 January 2027; and (iii) the new regime governing the complementary activities of municipal systems will only take effect 180 days after the entry into force of the Decree-Law.
For further information, please consult the Decree-Law here.
