The state has invited proposals for the allocation of 25 million euros to be spent on “light infrastructure” for recycling (bins, collection points etc) and another 310 million euros for “heavy infrastructure” such as recycling and waste management plants, Alternate Environment and Energy Minister Sokratis Famellos announced on Wednesday.
Addressing a meeting of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) board, Famellos also announced that a further 94 million euros and 238 million euros were earmarked to be spent in these two areas. Another 10 million euros will be spent on updating local recycling planning, additional funding will be given to the islands and an extra 150 million euros for waste-management units in Attica, he added.
The goal of these financing instruments was to assist Greece meet recycling targets and EU commitments, avoiding EU fines that will start being imposed after 2020 unless the country recovers and recycles 50 pct of waste, he said.
Famellos added that the funds were available to municipalities and solid waste management bodies and would help promote a cyclical economy where useful resources were recovered through good waste management. Municipalities were currently recycling just 6 pct of waste and this had to be quadrupled at least, he pointed out, urging local authorities to make recycling policy a priority.
The minister also stressed that a fee for burying waste, currently suspended, will eventually have to be implemented.
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Source: banksnews.gr
