Thessaloniki: Hot ashes from fireplaces and wood stoves set fire to plastic bins in municipalities

Appeal to citizens not to fly hot ash residues from fireplaces and wood stoves addressed by mountainous- and non-mountainous municipalities of Northern Greece. One of them, the Municipality of Grevena, is already counting the loss of 30 plastic bins that were set on fire by … careless citizens last year.

The Deputy Mayors of Cleaning after repeated incidents, recommend to their citizens “not to throw hot ashes from fireplaces and stoves in the bins as the risk of fire increases which can lead to the complete destruction of the bin and to the cause of a generalized fire even in the same the garbage truck endangering the safety of workers “.

“The exacerbation of the phenomenon may be due to the increase in heating costs in recent years and consequently the exploitation and use of forest firewood,” says Mr. Zisis Kiakas, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Recycling of the Municipality of Grevena in APE-MPE. The use of fireplaces and wood stoves has increased in recent years and in several areas due to increases in energy is expected greater use of wood heaters. “Recently, there have been phenomena of burning garbage bins from ashes that have been thrown away without having previously cooled down, from fireplaces, stoves and other means of heating,” points out the Deputy Mayor for Cleaning. Municipality of Chalkidona, Thessaloniki. For this reason, the Deputy Mayor for Cleaning, Green and Environment Menelaos Kordonouris through a recent announcement of the municipality “urges citizens to collect the ashes in metal containers and leave it there for at least a day, before disposing of it in well-sealed plastic bags waste.

As he mentioned speaking to APE-MPE danger is double. One is that the hot ashes, which end up uncontrollably in the bins, can cause danger to the cleaning workers of the municipalities and especially those who work in the garbage trucks. The other is to destroy mechanical or Cleaning equipment, such as bins. The destruction of the cleaning equipment and its replacement with a new one, burdens the budget of the Municipality and the citizens. That is why the attention of all of us is necessary. We ask our liaisons to be very careful and not to throw ashes in the garbage cans, unless at least one day has passed since its collection “, he explains.

A similar problem is faced by Municipality of Kassandra, Halkidiki. Mr. Pavlos Pantzidis, Deputy Mayor for Cleaning and Environment, points out that this year the phenomenon is reduced, compared to previous years, as the urge to use the ashes in gardens or fields as it is considered a first-class natural fertilizer “took place”. In the current winter period, there were only 4 cases of burning hot ash bins, which are limited to areas with apartment buildings. It seems that the citizens of the Municipality are more careful. Although they burn more firewood for heating, no damage to the bucket from hot ashes has been recorded.

Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news