Incoming Central Corfu Mayor sets waste management issue as priority
CORFU. Meeting with the Corfu Hoteliers Association. The municipal authority also met with restaurant owners and producers of the open-air market.
The new municipal authority of Stefanos Poulimenos has set the burning issue of waste management as a priority in its planning. In cooperation with the major producers of waste it attempts to draw up a road map, aiming to reduce the volume and cost of waste, which drains the budget of the Central Corfu Municipality.
The new mayor has started a series of meetings with professionals, in order to draw up a collection management plan that will serve everyone, citizens and businesses alike.
It all started today in the afternoon with the Corfu Hoteliers Association, with which he met at the San Giacomo Old Town Hall, in the presence of the elected councillour of his party, Spyros Neratzis.
During the discussion it was stressed by Mr. Poulimenos that the main objective of the new municipal authority is to reduce the volume, weight and cost of waste. In fact, as he explained, the latter affects all aspects of life on the island, with the practice followed in previous years, namely the raising of funds from individual codes of the Municipality's budget in order to fund the shortcomings of waste management.
"There are great shortcomings of several million per year, exceeding the regular revenues from the cleaning and lighting fees collected by the Municipality," he said, noting that the lost trust of citizens must be regained with a stable, functional, efficient and reliable waste management system.
Questionnaire
In this context, the hoteliers were asked to answer a questionnaire regarding the problems they identify in the management of waste, as well as individual data regarding the system they use to sort recyclables, the adequacy of bins, if the collection is carried out by a private person, the cost to the business, whether a volume reduction system is used for organic waste, the desired waste collection hours, whether there is a refrigerator for storing biowaste, whether the waste storage area is easily accessible to the municipality's waste collection vehicles, etc.
The answers are expected to be used in the planning of the new municipal authority, which has even set 5 June 2024, World Environment Day, as the date to present the first results of the five-month implementation of the system that will be applied to this critical issue.
The priority issues for hoteliers
The hoteliers raised as priority issues the waste collection schedule, which should be at times that will not cause inconvenience to the operation of the hotels, the frequency of collection of recycable waste, the issue of biowaste and the major problem with the huge volumes of cardboard.
However, as they pointed out, although large hotels do sort at source, it seems that all the recyclables end up together in the same rubbish trucks, which is a deterrent.
They said that they will stand by the new municipal authority's efforts, asking however that there be a common line with the other two municipalities of the island on this issue.
More meetings
The meetings of the new municipal authority with the professionals on the critical issue of waste management will continue. Tomorrow it will be the turn of the restaurant owners and soon the producers of the open-air market. There will also be meetings with the local councils of the municipality, as well as with cultural associations.
MARIA BAZDRIYIANNI
