The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and the Environment welcomed the assurance given by the Minister of the Environment with regard to the safeguarding of the Azores' interests and specificities in the national process for the issuance of new licenses to the managing bodies of the Integrated Packaging Waste Management (SIGRE).
 
"What we want to do is to safeguard that, regardless of the situation, all entities [either one or more entities licensed nationally]" will have the "obligation" to operate in the archipelago, said Luís Neto Viveiros. The Regional Secretary spoke at the end of a meeting with minister Matos Fernandes that took place in Lisbon.
 
The removal of packaging for recycling accounts for more than 40% of waste separated in the Azores, where the recovery of waste increased from 13.1% in 2012 to 23% in 2014 and the deposition of waste in landfills fell from 86.9% to 77%.
 
According to data of the managing entity Green Dot Society (Sociedade Ponto Verde), the recycling of municipal packaging waste may have exceeded 40 kilograms per inhabitant last year, when the national goal set in June 2015 for all municipal waste management systems in Mainland Portugal was at 33.29 kilograms per inhabitant by 2017.
 
By 2020, the Azores want to prepare at least 50% of municipal waste for reuse and recycling, including paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, wood and biodegradable waste.
 
Luís Neto Viveiros conveyed his satisfaction with the Minister's deep knowledge on the Azorean territory. In fact, he collaborated in the drafting of the first Coastal Zone Management Plans. The Regional Secretary also revealed that the Region was the first country to conclude the preparation of the Management Plan of the Hydrographic Region 2016-2021 and the Flood Risk Management Plan.
 
These tools fall within Portugal's obligations under the Water and Floods Directive.