Geographer and ecologist Raimundo Quintal has expressed concern over solid waste management on the island of Madeira, questioning whether the archipelago is the "island of flowers" or the "island of trash".
Quintal highlighted deficiencies in solid waste management within the Funchal municipality and later broadened his criticism to encompass the entire island, stating that the problem of scattered litter "pollutes Madeira, from the easternmost to the westernmost tip, north and south".
In a WhatsApp group post, Quintal shared a photograph of an overflowing recycling point in Camacha, describing the situation as "recurring" and "revealing the neglect of a significant part of the Madeiran population and the ineffectiveness of municipal councils and ARM in solid waste management".
The environmentalist urged local authorities and ARM to organize themselves, dismissing the excuse of a lack of human and material resources, as "there have never been so many" available.