With a clear plan of four proposals, the Region of Attica comes to the meeting that will take place today under the Minister of the Interior Theodoros Livanios, – a meeting that was requested by the Regional Governor Nikos Hardalia and the president of PEDA Giorgos Markopoulos from the first moment that the issue with the increase was created of waste burial fees.

The proposal of the Region of Attica is based on the following fourfold:

  • Immediate and significant reduction and rationalization of the amount of the burial fee to the levels of the other EU member states.
  • Immediate legal arrangement to disassociate EDSNA and the Region from any process of collection of any fee
  • Immediate and within the next quarter submission of a holistic plan by the Directorate General for Coordination of Waste Management of the Ministry of Interior for the management of the 1.6 tons of waste in the Attica Basin
  • Allocation and direction of 45% of the resources of the Sectoral Program of the Ministry of the Interior for waste management, in the Region of Attica – a fair proportional distribution of the relevant resources for the Region in which 45% of the country’s residents live and produce waste

The meeting will take place on 15:30 at the Ministry of the Interior, and in addition to the Minister Thodoris Livanio, the Regional Governor of Attica Nikos Hardalia and the president of the Regional Union of Municipalities of Attica and Mayor of Galatsi Giorgos Markopoulos, the General Secretary of Waste Coordination Manolis Grafakos, the president of EDSNA Babis Siatras and the Deputy Minister will participate Finance Thanos Petralia.

The Region of Attica and EDSNA, always in consultation with PEDA, come to the meeting with this joint plan of four points, in order to overcome the impasses caused by the implementation of the legislated measure.

As they point out circles of the Attica Region, the burial fee does not solve any problem. “We come to the meeting with a clear and responsible attitude, with clear proposals, to provide a definitive solution to the major issue of waste. This is an unacceptable and unfair “extortion” that burdens the already financially burdened Municipalities even more, forcing them to directly pass on the costs to the citizens and leading many bodies of the first level of Self-Government to financial suffocation, even to bankruptcy”.

The Region is awaiting the final plan of the Ministry of the Interior and is committed to presenting within the second quarter of 2025, i.e. by the end of June, an integrated plan for the management of waste in the Basin, in accordance with the standards of good practices applied in Europe and internationally.

“We are aiming for a comprehensive design of substance and not impressions. A holistic management plan that will deal with the problem in perpetuity with a sense of social responsibility, based on the principles of equality, balanced development and neighborhood prosperity. A plan that will provide a permanent and definitive solution to the issue of waste management. And the role of the Region can – and will – be catalytic”, say interlocutors of the Regional Governor of Attica.

“Gasification of the final residue under strict environmental conditions”

On this crucial issue, moreover, Nikos Hardalias has already shown his intentions, pointing out the need for metropolitan waste management in Attica and noting that burial is a completely outdated and highly anti-environmental practice. In fact, the Regional Governor of Attica has openly advocated the gasification of the final residue under strict environmental conditions, so that it can be used for energy. A method that, as noted by colleagues of the Regional Governor, has “proven positive results in metropolitan Regions and cities abroad, where it has been applied”. At the same time, from the Region of Attica they emphasize the need to put an end to the “extremity” – as they characterize it – of the Tribe, with Nikos Hardalia stressing that “Western Attica cannot accept all the waste of the Basin. It is a practice that clearly violates the balanced development of our 66 neighborhoods.”

The administrative control at EDSNA is completed – “Where there are responsibilities, they will be assigned”

It is pointed out that the collection of the burial fee, which was instituted under the SYRIZA government, is imposed on the Municipalities for the quantities of municipal waste that are buried in the Sanitary Burial Grounds (HYT) without treatment.

“For decades the problem was “buried” under the carpet. Huge sums were spent both on studies of dubious effectiveness and quality, and on recycling without the corresponding results”declare from the Region, meaningfully noting that in the next period (by January) the administrative control at EDSNA will be completed and “the results are sent to the Judiciary, which knows exactly what to do. It goes without saying that where there are responsibilities, they will be assigned.”

As EDSNA acts as an “intermediary”, i.e. it pays the burial fee directly to the Hellenic Recycling Organization, it is also worth mentioning the fact that, according to information, more than 240 million have been collected in the fund of EOAN to date. euros, of which no one knows what and if has been returned to the Municipalities, and if and which projects have been financed for recycling.