The polluter pays: The new program for the big Municipalities opens

of Eleni Botas

A new program in collaboration with the Ministry of Development for “The polluter pays” opens in the coming days the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

According to the General Secretary of Waste Management Manolis Grafakos, the program that will be opened concerns the submission of proposals by the Municipalities for the implementation of the system “Pay as I fly” known to the international community as “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT) with aim at optimal waste management with the involvement of those who produce it.

This is a measure that will charge consumers for the amount of garbage they throw away, while Municipalities will be able to charge lower municipal fees to all those who produce less waste or recycle more.

“As the consumer pays depending on the electricity or water he consumes, so will it be with the garbage,” said Mr. Grafakos.

According to him, each municipality will be able to implement its own policy and its own system of “garbage charging”.

In Greece, this system will become mandatory for all Municipalities with a population of over 100,000 inhabitants from January 1, 2023 and over 20,000 inhabitants from January 1, 2028.

This means that in the coming months municipalities will have to acquire the appropriate infrastructure to implement the measure properly and fairly while consumers are called upon to adopt a new philosophy regarding waste generation and recycling.

This measure has been applied for several years in various cities in Europe, such as Germany, Italy and Belgium.

In particular, “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT) in Italy has managed to record a significant reduction in waste and high recycling rates, while in Belgium, which implemented a system with prepaid bags, there was a significant increase in the recycling rate which exceeded the 60%.

Fines for illegal landfills have been reduced

From 60 the fines for respective illegal landfills (landfills) in our country have now been reduced to 42 and an additional reduction is expected by 9 more in the next period.

12 tenders are already underway by the Ministry for the creation of a Waste Treatment Unit (WMU) and a Bio-Waste Treatment Unit (BWW).

Within the next week, 2 MEA contracts will be signed for Chios (the bidder is the company Thales Environmental Services SA) with a budget of 3.7 million euros and Kefalonia with a budget of 20.5 million euros, while within the next period the signing of contracts for the MEVA in Milos and Karpathos as well as for MEA in Sitia, Crete.

Also, by the end of the summer, the tender for the MEA in Heraklion is expected, while in the final stretch is the process of drafting the tender documents for the construction of a Landfill and Composting Unit in Tinos, with a budget of 7 million euros.