Keratea again in the spotlight, but with less waste

The government's decision to deal the cards in the waste market by creating an international call for proposals for the construction of four waste treatment plants in Athens, is scratching the deep wound of Keratea.

The plan of environment minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou, coordinated by vice minister of the interior, Paris Koukoulopoulos and the relevant interministerial committee under Theodoros Pangalos, is to test the reflexes of the market in these difficult times and attract domestic and international players in a market that under modest estimates will have a volume of more than 2 billion euros in the coming years.

But all this preparation is re-entering the Keratea case into the waste discussion, since it is the area where one of the four units will be constructed, and which is jamming the design for permanent solutions of waste disposal in Attica, thus urging its resolution at whatever cost.

The talks between the state and local bodies that brought forth unusual suggestions for the siting of landfills (i.e. the Keratea industrial park next to the dairy units!) as well as more serious ones (the old landfill), stopped withTina Birbili and seem to be heading down a one-way street, either because the proposed solution lies near the road, leading to new reactions, or because it requires a new round of licensing that the government cannot afford to start. The new environment minister has occupied himself with unauthorised cinstruction and abandoned the issue of garbage, despite knowing that time is dangerously running out.

Information indicates that in the coming days a new round of contacts will start so that the plan for Keratea will be finalized in the coming autumn. All scenarios are on the table, but the Ministry of Environment seems to be leaning towards the solution of the old spot in Ovriokastro, but with new data this time.

This is none other than the drastic "cutting down" of the area, which in the original scenario would have occupied 540 acres, a plan that has already been presented to local bodies, but without reaching an agreement. The government argues that the restriction of the area will protect the archaeological sites.  

It is currently uncertain whether this step will become acceptable as during the previous negotiations, the only consultation with local bodies concluded that the waste which will end up in the sanitary landfill would not exceed 80.000 tons.

However, the state’s persistence in regional planning seems to be the only immediate solution to pushing the project forward without, of course, underestimating the social cost. Meanwhile, 12 million euros in funding from the Cohesion Fund has gone, meaning that the government must seek new sources of funding for the project.