West Achaia Municipality Initiatives for Environmental Protection
Solid Waste Management: Proactive Steps for a greener future
Thousands of households and industries in West Achaia (Greece) will receive a wide range of compost bins, brown waste bins, biodegradable composting bags as well as a waste collection vehicle for bio-waste. Moreover, the Municipality of West Achaia has acquired a new waste collection vehicle which will be deployed to collect bio-waste from the newly installed brown waste bins. This vehicle will help ensure efficient waste management by promoting the separation of organic waste from other types of waste.
This initiative was presented to the community on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, by Mr. Marios Didachos, the Project Manager from the Municipality of West Achaia, and is part of the “Actions for Municipal Solid Waste Management in West Achaia Municipality” program, implemented by the Municipality as part of the 2014-2020 Transport, Environment, and Sustainable Development Operational Program.
These measures will help in significantly reducing the amount of waste and encourage composting, ultimately protecting the environment.
Biowaste Management: Advancing Alissos through Sustainable Transformation
On September 15th Professor Gerasimos Lyberatos, an expert from the School of Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, took the lead to present biowaste management solutions to the residents of Alissos village, in West Achaia.
Professor Lyberatos’s mission focuses on biowaste management and its essential role in promoting the circular economy. This involves tackling pressing concerns like the greenhouse effect, which is closely tied to how organic waste can be handled. By using creative solutions, harmful methane emissions significantly contribute to our fight against climate change can be reduced.
Alissos isn’t venturing into unknown territory. It’s adopting a model that’s already proven effective in places like Halandri and Andros. This model primarily concentrates on shifting from a linear to a circular economy and finding solutions for current solid waste management challenges. This process achieves several essential goals, including:
- Maximizing the use of pre-dried food residues and biowaste, reducing waste and creating valuable materials for other purposes.
- Testing composting, with the resulting compost distributed to residents, enhances soil quality and decreases the need for chemical fertilizers.
- Generating biogas used to power garbage trucks, benefiting both transportation and clean energy production.
- Refining biogas into bioCNG, a sustainable energy source, demonstrates the potential for renewable energy from waste products.
Alissos is on the brink of a fresh start, aiming for a future where biowaste becomes a valuable resource and the circular economy fosters sustainability. Projects like SYMSITES, presented and discussed in both occasions, are leading the way demonstrating that positive change is achievable if we collaborate toward a shared goal.
