The 4th external monitoring session of the project LIFE-IP CEI-Greece “Circular Economy Implementation in Greece” coordinated by the Ministry of Environment & Energy has been completed with great success. The monitoring session took place on September 22 and 23, 2022, in the presence of the external monitoring team members, Mr. Aurelio Politano (Project Adviser, European Agency for Climate, Infrastructure & the Environment – CINEA ), Sofia Papageorgiou and Elias Demian (Technical Monitors , NEEMO EEIG ) and the 20 beneficiaries of the project.
Mr. Manolis Grafakos, General Secretary of Waste Management Coordination opened the session with a greeting speech.
On the first day (22/9) in the form of a hybrid event, the monitoring included a presentation of the progress of the project, which took place in the events hall of the Green Fund in Villa Kazouli, which is a co-financier and associated beneficiary of the project. The external monitoring team was informed in detail about the overall development of the project and more specifically about its actions, (general overview of the project, implementation of the legislative framework for Circular Economy in selected island and mountainous areas [Municipalities of Paros-Antiparos, Thiras, Tinos, Alonissos and Nafpaktia], Enhanced Green Centres [Municipalities of Athens, Thessaloniki and Vari,Voula,Vouliagmeni], integrated management and collection networks for Hazardous Household Waste [Municipality of Athens, Region of Western Macedonia], financial tools for the support of Circular Economy: Pay-As-You-Throw system [Municipality of Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni], Prevention of Food Waste Generation, Capacity Building Actions, Mobilization of Complementary Funds, etc.). The presentations were a trigger for a constructive dialogue, where through the key comments and observations of the monitors, the strong points of the project and the indisputable progress that has been achieved, as well as the points of attention for the smooth development of the implementation phase (Concrete Actions – C) came apparent.
Snapshots from the first day of the 4th Evaluation (22/9) which took place at Villa Kazouli, headquarters of the Green Fund.
On the 2nd day of the project assessment (23/9) an on-site visit was organized by the Municipality of Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni during which the progress of waste management operations in the municipality was demonstrated, in the context of its cooperation with the European LIFE-IP CEI-Greece program “Circular Economy Implementation in Greece”.
The Mayor of VVV, Mr. G. Konstantellos, informs the group of monitors and representatives of the associated beneficiaries of the project MEEN (coordinator), GRFU and ERS about their projects in progress, with regard to waste management.
The external monitoring team visited the Town Hall and was informed by the Mayor of Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Mr. Grigoris Constantellos, about the pioneering pilot actions in the municipality, the planning – as the first municipality in Greece– of the full-scale implementation of a Pay-as-You-Throw system ( PAYT) in the near future, as well as the establishment of the first Enhanced Green Centre (EGC). Afterwards, a group of experts in waste management from the Municipality of VVV and the Ecological Recycling Society – ERS (an associated beneficiary in the project) guided the guests to the facilities and points of interest in the municipality and informed the external monitoring team about the results, so far, from the pilot implementation of the Win-as you- Separate | Pay-as-you-Throw schemes, the analytical studies that have been prepared in the context of the project with regard to the full-scale implementation of the PAYT system in the municipality, by ERS in collaboration with MoVVV, as well as the planning for the creation of the first EGC in the municipality.
The visit concluded with a working lunch hosted by the Mayor of Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Mr. Grigoris Konstantellos, to the guest representatives from the Ministry of Environment & Energy, the Green Fund and the Ecological Recycling Society and, of course, the members of the project’s external monitoring team.
On-site demonstration of the progress of waste management actions in MoVVV.
