Volume 3, Issue 8, August 2009 Journalism as never before  

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Fire Hazards and Landfill Sites

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Landfill issuesThe prolonged spell of hot weather unfortunately brings with it the increased risk of wild fires in Greece. These fires in recent years have had devastating consequences in terms of loss of life and damage to the local environment. So far, however, here on Crete at least, whilst there have been several fires this summer, there seem to have been fewer of them than there were in 2007 and 2008. One of the reasons for this may be certain preventative measures that were implemented in the spring. At the end of April the local Fire Department made an inventory of illegal rubbish dumps in the prefecture - illegal tips are serious fire hazards which have contributed to many outbreaks on the island. The Fire Department recorded more than 70 illegal tips. The relevant municipalities were informed and by the end of June the vast majority of the tips had been cleaned up. Good news!.

Whilst we are on the subject of rubbish dumps, though, the news regarding landfill sites in the area is less encouraging. As we reported earlier in the year, the landfill situation in the Rethymnon region is problematic. There is just one legal landfill site for the whole of the prefecture, and at the current rate the site will be full in two years. A feasibility study was commissioned a while back; after a delay of several months the report was finally published at the beginning of July. The report listed 30 locations that met the basic criteria for the creation of a landfill site. Apparently it is now up to the local authorities concerned to assess the suitability of these locations, with a view to providing a provisional solution to the problem whilst a Crete wide policy is being developed. We live in hope, but….! After seven years of discussions and wrangling, there seems to be little progress in finding an acceptable location for a waste treatment site for the island, and no decision has been made on the type of waste management facility that should be established either. And in any case, an island wide facility is not expected to be up and running before 2020 at the earliest. This is another of those stories that is obviously going to run and run for decades, we just hope that the Bugle will still be around to report on the final outcome!

More Green Updates….

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Eco CornerAs ever, it’s a tale of ’some good news and some bad news’ this month. On the positive side, some of the recent recycling initiatives that the local municipality have implemented do seem to be having an impact. In general, the amount of recyclable waste that is processed in the region continues to increase month by month (thumbs up!). However, the new scheme for recycling cooking oil that we have been reporting on in the last couple of months has resulted in mixed fortunes. So far local businesses are reported to have responded well, and the local council seems to be very upbeat about this. (We would say, though, that the positive response of local businesses is perhaps not entirely surprising given that it has now been made compulsory for local food outlets etc. to recycle used oil.) On the other hand, local residents are reported to have been slow on the uptake when it comes to voluntary participation in the scheme. Part of the problem has been that the scheme was not very well publicized in advance (many people didn't know where the recycling containers were or even what they were for!). Same old story, unfortunately….

Anyway, as a reminder, four containers for used cooking oil have now been placed in Rethymnon. The locations are as follows: the entrance to the industrial port (near old harbour); the South entrance to the municipal park; Agios Giorgos Church (Kallithea) and Kapodistriou street (also in Kallithea). Just open the lid on the top and pour your used oil into the container. Once the container is full, one of the companies participating in the scheme will come and empty it. The recycled cooking oil will go towards producing bio-fuel and soap. Additional recycling facilities in the Rethymnon region that we are aware of are listed in the section below. If you know of any that we haven’t mentioned, please get in touch!

Where Can I Recycle Waste Items?

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - RecyclingApart from using the blue and yellow recycling bins for household waste other items can be recycled as follows:
Disposal of broken electrical goods. There is a depot just outside town which will take anything ‘that had a plug on it’ (including washing machines and fridges). Drivers, take the National Road towards Heraklion in Misiria. Turn off the highway after about 100—150 metres, hang a right and you should soon see recycling bins etc. The depot is open from 6am to 3pm on weekdays, and from 6am to 12 noon at weekends. For further information call 28310 57940. For large objects that need collection call 195 from any phone.
Old telephones and small telecoms items. There is a green bin in the entrance of the main OTE office..
Batteries. various places in town including OTE, DEI, Germanos, Marinopoulos and Champion.
Old cars. DRAKOS on the left hand side of the National Road a short way out of Rethymnon (going towards Hania). They even pay you as they recycle the spares and give you a paper for tax purposes!