On Monday, April 15, 2019, “Sixroni Lefkada” organized the Lefkada Waste Management Conference. The aim of the conference was to inform the residents, to help them comprehend the problem, and to sensitize them, with a final goal to protect the environment and to reduce waste production. Finding a solution isn’t a move of political opposition and for this reason current officials and all mayoral candidates were invited to take part in this open conversation. Mr. Kostas Gligoris, mayoral candidate of Lefkada honored us with his presence.
Following, the event speakers, from the public and private sector, who were selected based on their expertise on the subject matter presented their speeches. The event was coordinated by Mr. Dimitri Vagenas, Professor of Environmental Systems and President of the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Patra. He congratulated Mr. Kalos for organizing the conference and highlighted the uniqueness of the event as it is rare to have the opportunity to have both private and public sectors discussing and sharing ideas and solutions. He mentioned that the situation is dire and that waste concerns all of us as we all face the same issues.
Mr.Christos Tsiligiannis, advisor to the Municipality of Lefkada and MOPAK project designer presented all the actions that have taken place by the Municipality of Lefkada and the plan they are following. He characterized the past as black and the present as grey due to the fact that the MOPAK factory has yet to be constructed and all the waste is currently stored in pressed bundles in the area of the current site of uncontrolled landfill waste. He couldn’t highlight enough the need for active participation of all residents in proper separation of waste and recycling.
Mr. Sotiris Stasinos, Chemical Engineer, MSc, Ph.D., Environmental Manager of HLEKTOR A.E. discussed the various fields his company is involved in and explained in depth the issues of mixed waste. For the case of Lefkada he proposed what the Ministry also recommended, a small factory to pre-process the waste prior to composting.
Mr. Haralambos Haralambidis, Electrical Engineer, Project Manager ΣΔΙΤ for the Epirus-Peloponnesse Region, TERNA A.E. mentioned the work performed by his company and how the coming together of the private and public sectors had as a result the completion of the unit of waste processing in record time, solving the problem for the next 25 years. We must mention that transporting our waste to the above unit of waste processing has been a topic of conversation in our local city council as a possible solution for our current pressed bundles.
Following was a lively Q&A session. Most of the interest was in regards to the “in between period”, from now up until the MOPAK factory will be complete and also on contemporary ways of dealing with waste.
The conference was hailed a success as it was the first one of its kind regarding this topic and many residents were eager to receive information as it was streamed live online and on the radio.
“Sixroni Lefkada” extends their gratitude to the speakers and to the Cultural Center of the municipality of Lefkada for providing the conference room.
The entirety of the event as well as photos can be seen on our Facebook page.
