ABSTRACT

Solid waste is causal to pollution and contamination of soils, air and waters, as well as health and epidemiological risks. The magnitude of its consequences is capable of imprint serious changes on human genome and on the planet. It pressed climate policies – linked to demands of efficient production and sustainability precepts -, and the expansion of waste treatment and management programs to deal with the problems associated with the wastes. However, the most widely used method supporting these programs, in Portugal, is waste disposal by burial in sanitary landfills with over landscape remediation and redevelopment works. This paper argues that this method does little more than to sweep our environmental responsibility under a green carpet, and it calls for more ethical and irreverent solutions to eliminate wastes.