Future Interdisciplinary Waste Ecological Challenges: A Critical Analysis of the Portuguese Case

Abstract

Existent waste indicators may measure the current environmental dynamics but cannot keep up with the rapid changes of our time. Waste management has deep specific implications in different sectors of our society, namely in terms of environmental quality and health outcomes. Alongside, it is undeniable that waste management practices are linked with the human development level of each country, which means that disadvantaged communities are more likely to be vulnerable to poor waste management practices. It is a critical need to investigate the current Portuguese indicators used to measure ecological sustainable development, pointing out what needs to be changed in order to make a reliable diagnosis of future ecological challenges in this context. This chapter provides a critical analysis of domestic waste indicators available in the official databases, by examining the role of these indicators in waste management in Portugal. It can be concluded that a new composite indicator able to combine social, health, and environmental variables is required to pursue the application of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda goals at a local level.