The critical problem of waste management, an issue that has plagued the entire islands for decades, in the last few days set fire to Kalymnos and Mrwith the subject even going beyond the borders, reaching the opposite side of the Aegean.
The lack of a sanitary landfill in Kalymnos and the “volcano” of garbage, which is ready to… explode, threatening the health of residents and visitors and discrediting the image of the island, as the landfill is located at its entrance, was the reason to seek urgent solution. At the meeting of the Municipal Council of Kalymnos, which took place at the end of July, in the presence of the regional governor of South Aegean and president of FoDSA N. Aegean Giorgos Hatzimarkosthe alternatives were discussed, with the organization’s proposal to focus on the installation of a unit that will take over the management and transport of garbage to the landfill of Kos, when it is restored and licensed. As mentioned, this is an interim solution, which will put an end to the landfill in the Giannahorafa area and to the fires and toxic smog that have plagued the island for decades.
“There is a health issue from the toxins that emerge when garbage is burned. However, it is also a matter of defamation when tourists watch trash being burned and the smoke reaching across the street.” declares the mayor of Kalymnos in “Vima”. Yannis Mastrokoukosexplaining that the island produces approximately 6,500-7,000 tons of waste annually. In the first phase, based on the design, the containers and all the necessary infrastructure will be placed to leave the island with compressed mixed waste. This is a process that is expected to be completed within six months and for the transports to the landfill of Kos to begin. In the second phase, which is scheduled after two years, the recycling part is expected to proceed and therefore only the remains will travel to the landfill of the neighboring island. According to the municipal authority of Kalymnos, then, based on the new data, it will be decided how the waste management will proceed.
However, even the temporary alternative of bundling the waste – that is, the reduction in volume – seems not to have been on the table of proposals for the case of Kalymnos. Besides, as characteristically mentioned by the regional governor of the South Aegean, there are the examples of four islands – Andros, Tinos, Leros and Milos – which for years have proceeded to bundle their garbage “and right now they are at a tragic impasse.”
At the same time, the decision to transfer the waste from Kalymnos to neighboring Kos brought great reactions on the island of Hippocrates, with the municipal authority expressing surprise at the decision, for which it had not been informed, nor had there been a dialogue. This is the reason why the mayor Kos Theodosis Nikitaras convened on Friday an extraordinary meeting of all the agencies of the island in order to be informed about the issue.
In fact, in a statement issued by the Municipality of Kos, just one day after the meeting of the Municipal Council of Kalymnos and the taking of the relevant decision, it is stated that this is a development that the island finds diametrically opposed. “We must make it clear that there was no previous discussion with the municipal authority of the Municipality of Kos. In its extraordinary meeting, the faction of the municipal authority unanimously and categorically rejected any such possibility. Our position was and remains firm and clear. We defend and protect our country. Kos and the Kos Landfill cannot accept even a kilo more waste than what our island produces, which we manage with great effort and expense for our fellow citizens”.
Unofficial proposal from Turkey
Adding fuel to the already existing … fire was the placement of the mayor of Kalymnos, who stated that he accepted – unofficially, according to reliable information – a proposal from Turgutreis, the second largest city on the peninsula of Halicarnassus, to help transport the garbage of the Greek island on the Turkish coast.
At the same time, Mr. Mastrokoukos talked about irregular practices of transporting waste from Kos in the middle of the night to the Kalymnos landfill. “It’s true, they are pirated. It’s an open secret, we just keep a low profile. It is a fact when in the morning at dawn one sees in the CHADA an incredible number of mattresses, which have been withdrawn and thrown into the CHADA of Kalymnos. As many layers as the whole of Kalymnos does not have! It’s true. But what will one do? To raise issues and start an argument which makes no sense? I think these are issues that we need to solve among ourselves and in low tones.”
Officials of the Municipality of Kos, however, stress to “Vima” that the first cell in the island’s landfill was not sufficient, which is why the necessary actions were taken to expand it. Two years ago, the operation of the second cell began. “In 2022 alone, the island’s landfill received 34,000 tons of waste. With the cell having a lifespan of 10 years and given that in the summer months the population of the island quadruples – thus the volume of garbage”.
“The only solution is cooperation between the islands”
“We are dozens of islands and, logically, landfills cannot be made on all of them. Ios already accepts the garbage of neighboring islands. Mykonos accepts the waste of Andros and, respectively, Rhodes the waste of Leros, Chalkis and Kasos. What I want to say is that with the current situation in the waste sector, what remains is cooperation between the islands. Obviously you don’t solve a problem by creating problems elsewhere, however with a good mood and communication any obstacles can be overcome.
However, our municipal authority’s proposal to solve the garbage problem on the islands is a blast furnace, where waste from all over the Aegean will be collected and electricity and water will be produced. We even own the uninhabited island, on which the required facilities could be placed. It is a definitive solution that obviously cannot be implemented immediately, however it could be done in the future, as it is already done in Sweden.”
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