Meropi Ydraiou updates the Municipal Council on the waste situation
recycling
26 Nov 2019
/ 07:38
CORFU. The Central Corfu & Diapontia Islands Mayor Meropi Ydraiou made an appeal to the Council to raise awareness and embrace the culture of recycling.
She told the Council at the special meeting on the subject of waste management that following the division of the island into three Municipalities there had been a decrease in human resources and equipment.
77 people have just been recruited, another 24 will be added shortly and the Cleansing Service hopes to reach a total of 150 workers. The new employees will be trained and many of them will be involved in small-scale cleaning in neighbourhoods.
As regards equipment, unfortunately the Municipality has only 1/3 of what it requires and repairwork has to be carried out daily. The waste bin washer, which had been out of use since 2014, has now been repaired and is operational.
Meropi Ydraiou placed special emphasis on the collection of recyclable materials and referred to the School Recycling Marathon creating a culture of sorting at source in schools. She then presented a plan of action in this regard: "There will be a recycling truck and bonus cards - possibly with special offers from hotels and businesses as an incentive. There will be recycling kiosks and for areas further away the possibility of mobile Green Spots is being looked at. Special effort will be put into clothing recycling - something which has already begun under the guidance of Spyros Neratzis. We need two years and plenty of goodwill to get the campaign running properly," she said.
"The main thing is for awareness to be raised and not to slip so that we can embrace the culture of recycling - removing the waste from the island is not a permanent solution. During this interim period we need to get the infrastructure for processing and composting ready along with the equipment.The removal of waste from the island is our final opportunity and we need to grab it. I believe that the public is ready for recycling."
The transportation of waste to Kozani will be for a period of three years - 29,000 tons has initially been agreed but this may increased.
As regards the costs, one part will come from the ESPA Programme (for the waste transfer statins), another part from the Ionian Islands Region and a third from the State Fees already being paid - without any extra charges for the public.
The Mayor said that the gate fee for the Kozani facility to process the waste is normally €84 per ton but with the subsidy it will cost Corfu €42 - the same as the waste baling costs us at present.
In total, Ms. Ydraiou said, the operation will cost 150 Euros per ton including the gate fee, whereas at present it costs 105 Euros.
The Ministry will have invitations for tender for the waste processing facility ready to go out internationally next week.
77 people have just been recruited, another 24 will be added shortly and the Cleansing Service hopes to reach a total of 150 workers. The new employees will be trained and many of them will be involved in small-scale cleaning in neighbourhoods.
As regards equipment, unfortunately the Municipality has only 1/3 of what it requires and repairwork has to be carried out daily. The waste bin washer, which had been out of use since 2014, has now been repaired and is operational.
Meropi Ydraiou placed special emphasis on the collection of recyclable materials and referred to the School Recycling Marathon creating a culture of sorting at source in schools. She then presented a plan of action in this regard: "There will be a recycling truck and bonus cards - possibly with special offers from hotels and businesses as an incentive. There will be recycling kiosks and for areas further away the possibility of mobile Green Spots is being looked at. Special effort will be put into clothing recycling - something which has already begun under the guidance of Spyros Neratzis. We need two years and plenty of goodwill to get the campaign running properly," she said.
"The main thing is for awareness to be raised and not to slip so that we can embrace the culture of recycling - removing the waste from the island is not a permanent solution. During this interim period we need to get the infrastructure for processing and composting ready along with the equipment.The removal of waste from the island is our final opportunity and we need to grab it. I believe that the public is ready for recycling."
The transportation of waste to Kozani will be for a period of three years - 29,000 tons has initially been agreed but this may increased.
As regards the costs, one part will come from the ESPA Programme (for the waste transfer statins), another part from the Ionian Islands Region and a third from the State Fees already being paid - without any extra charges for the public.
The Mayor said that the gate fee for the Kozani facility to process the waste is normally €84 per ton but with the subsidy it will cost Corfu €42 - the same as the waste baling costs us at present.
In total, Ms. Ydraiou said, the operation will cost 150 Euros per ton including the gate fee, whereas at present it costs 105 Euros.
The Ministry will have invitations for tender for the waste processing facility ready to go out internationally next week.
