Important conclusions for waste management from the Waste Watch Corfu meeting
waste management
20 Oct 2019
/ 09:21
CORFU. A lot was discussed at yesterday evening΄s international meeting at the Chamber of Commerce organised by Waste Watch Corfu.
There was a successful international meeting at the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday evening organised by Waste Watch Corfu - "The Modern European Dimension in Waste Management: Can Corfu follow this model?".
The three Corfu Mayors were present at the meeting - Meropi Ydraiou, Giorgos Mahimaris and Kostas Lessi - along with the Corfu MPs Stefanos Gikas and Alexandros Avlonitis.
Also present were former and present representatives from the local authorities, political parties, businesses, producers and interested Corfu organisations as well as volunteers involved in recycling and sorting at source at Corfu's Green Spots.
The meeting was coordinated by the Waste Watch Corfu Administrative Committee who, in their brief welcoming addresses talked about their efforts to raise local public awareness as regards waste management.
The President of the International Solid Waste Association, Antonis Mavropoulos, said that he believed that things had improved at Temploni landfill since two years but nevertheless, it should not be left unprotected as waste management as a whole on the island needs to be improved.
When he was asked about waste being removed from Corfu, Mr. Mavropoulos said that he would only be in favour of this solution if it were temporary and under the right conditions - but it was not the right long-term solution. He had no hesitation is saying that PESDA (Regional Waste Management Plan) needs to be reviewed.
The General Secretary for EU Urban Waste Management, Vanya Veras, talked about the three first levels (reduce, reuse, recycle) of the waste management pyramid and pointed out that the EU funds these three levels.
Ms. Veras stressed that Corfu has two choices - Investment in mixed waste, which has a limited lifespan, or investment in three composting units alongside a complete Sorting Centre.
The Director of the Catalonia Waste Management Organisation, Josep Maria Tost i Borras, talked about the Catalonia model and the problems it had with water supply and waste 25 years ago compared to the situation today - which is an excellent example of sorting at source. Mr. Tost i Borras, who was Mayor of Barcelona for 24 years running, stressed that the key to changing waste management was political will.
Stavros Argyropoulos talked about the importance of recycling and gave the example of Sparti and the difficulties it had faced. It now has, however, the highest recycling percentage in Greece.
At the end of the event, after all the speakers had answered questions from the floor, the Waste Watch Corfu Administrative Committee announced its unanimous decision to make all the invited speakers honorary members of Waste Watch Corfu and presented them with special gifts.
The international meeting, which lasted for over three hours, concluded with the invited speakers making presentations to Corfu Compost Project, Healthy Little Eaters and representatives of the Green Spots in Lefkimmi, Liapades and Spartilla as well as Temploni Cultural Society for their efforts to raise public awareness regarding recycling and sorting at source.
The three Corfu Mayors were present at the meeting - Meropi Ydraiou, Giorgos Mahimaris and Kostas Lessi - along with the Corfu MPs Stefanos Gikas and Alexandros Avlonitis.
Also present were former and present representatives from the local authorities, political parties, businesses, producers and interested Corfu organisations as well as volunteers involved in recycling and sorting at source at Corfu's Green Spots.
The meeting was coordinated by the Waste Watch Corfu Administrative Committee who, in their brief welcoming addresses talked about their efforts to raise local public awareness as regards waste management.
The President of the International Solid Waste Association, Antonis Mavropoulos, said that he believed that things had improved at Temploni landfill since two years but nevertheless, it should not be left unprotected as waste management as a whole on the island needs to be improved.
When he was asked about waste being removed from Corfu, Mr. Mavropoulos said that he would only be in favour of this solution if it were temporary and under the right conditions - but it was not the right long-term solution. He had no hesitation is saying that PESDA (Regional Waste Management Plan) needs to be reviewed.
The General Secretary for EU Urban Waste Management, Vanya Veras, talked about the three first levels (reduce, reuse, recycle) of the waste management pyramid and pointed out that the EU funds these three levels.
Ms. Veras stressed that Corfu has two choices - Investment in mixed waste, which has a limited lifespan, or investment in three composting units alongside a complete Sorting Centre.
The Director of the Catalonia Waste Management Organisation, Josep Maria Tost i Borras, talked about the Catalonia model and the problems it had with water supply and waste 25 years ago compared to the situation today - which is an excellent example of sorting at source. Mr. Tost i Borras, who was Mayor of Barcelona for 24 years running, stressed that the key to changing waste management was political will.
Stavros Argyropoulos talked about the importance of recycling and gave the example of Sparti and the difficulties it had faced. It now has, however, the highest recycling percentage in Greece.
At the end of the event, after all the speakers had answered questions from the floor, the Waste Watch Corfu Administrative Committee announced its unanimous decision to make all the invited speakers honorary members of Waste Watch Corfu and presented them with special gifts.
The international meeting, which lasted for over three hours, concluded with the invited speakers making presentations to Corfu Compost Project, Healthy Little Eaters and representatives of the Green Spots in Lefkimmi, Liapades and Spartilla as well as Temploni Cultural Society for their efforts to raise public awareness regarding recycling and sorting at source.
