Actualités  •  Membres

Greek experience in waste management: study tour of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine with the participation of Egis team

At the invitation of ENVIROPLAN, and with the participation of the Egis in Ukraine team, specialists from the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine visited Greece to study the Greek experience in infrastructure development and the implementation of European directives on waste management. The visit was part of the EU-funded project APENA 3.

 
The trip lasted from January 27 to 31, during which the participants met with representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Greece and the Hellenic Recycling Agency (EOAN). They also visited waste management companies on the Peloponnese Peninsula and in the Attica region.

 
The study tour participants learned about the specifics of the Extended Producer Responsibility system in Greece, the processes of separate waste collection and sorting, as well as EU-funded projects and public-private partnership programs. They also became familiar with the operations of transshipment, sorting, and composting stations, as well as waste processing plants (mechanical and biological treatment, including anaerobic digestion). Additionally, the participants visited modern landfills for disposing of residues from recycled waste, along with old landfills that have been reclaimed or are under supervision.
 

Egis team was represented by Alla Krasnozhon, an environmental expert, and Anastasiia Feier, a climate and environmental expert, and Oleksandr Ignatenko , a national expert on waste management practices.

 
“Currently, 80% of household waste in Greece is landfilled,” says Oleksandr Ihnatenko, “but the country is rapidly moving towards high European waste management standards. The active development of modern infrastructure in Greece has been progressing for just over five years, with 12 waste management facilities already built, 25 under construction, and plans to begin building another 20 facilities in 2025-2026. In addition, the feasibility study for the construction of six modern CHP plants, which will run on renewable RDF fuel produced by waste processing plants, is underway. Ukraine still has to follow this path to become part of the EU. That is why the experience of our Greek partners is extremely valuable.”

 
Ukrainian managers will be able to use the knowledge gained during the study tour to enhance and align Ukrainian legislation with EU requirements. The experience of our Greek colleagues is also valuable for the experts of Egis in Ukraine, as we, together with Enviroplan, are implementing the EU-funded APENA3 project in Ukraine. As part of this project, our team has already developed more than 30 regulations aimed at implementing the waste management reform in Ukraine, supported pilot oblasts in creating regional waste management plans, and is currently conducting a series of waste management training sessions for three Ukrainian regions.