The Environmental Authority seems to have given the green light for creation and operation Green Point in the Municipality of Sotiras. The Department of the Environment last March issued Reasoned Finding based on article 24 of the Environmental Impact Assessment of certain projects. This is a project which is an important step towards waste management which will also contribute to the upgrading of the citizens' standard of living.
As stated in the Reasoned Finding of the Department of the Environment, the proposed project concerns the construction and operation of a green space in the Municipality of Sotiras, where it will constitute a delimited and landscaped space with appropriate building infrastructure and equipment, so that it is possible for citizens to deposit various streams of household waste. More specifically, the green spot will accept waste such as recyclable materials, separately collected, such as paper, glass, metals, plastics, textiles, edible oils or used items and equipment (such as clothing, furniture, electrical and electronic equipment). Said waste will then be delivered to licensed management units for recycling, reuse and/or final disposal.
More generally, the development of Green Points contributes substantially to adoption of national policy regarding solid waste management, as it is expected to contribute significantly to the following:
- promoting waste prevention
- strengthening reuse and recycling activities
- diversion of waste from landfills
- household waste recycling
- separate collection of paper, metal, plastic and glass
- forming a new approach to what is and what is not waste, reducing the ease of discarding useful objects and materials, as well as developing new standards of social behavior
In particular, the SPs aim to:
- contribute to increasing the reuse and recycling of specific categories of waste, such as metals, paper/cardboard, glass, textile and wood, and thus to increasing their diversion from final disposal sites;
- to reduce the uncontrolled disposal of bulky waste for burial,
- to serve citizens in the separate disposal of recyclable materials and other special categories of household waste as well as used objects and equipment,
- to particularly serve the residents of small, mountainous and remote areas who may not have other ways of managing recyclables,
- to be places of education and awareness of citizens in matters of solid waste management, and
- to strengthen the active participation of citizens in reuse and recycling and through the implementation of various compensation systems.
The creation of Green Point in the Municipality of Sotiras will contribute to the rational management of solid waste, as it is expected that an important problem of the disposal of waste, mainly recyclable and bulky waste that ends up in uncontrolled disposal areas will be solved. It will also contribute positively to:
- Improvement of the citizens' quality of life, due to the reduction of uncontrolled waste disposal observed and the protection of the environment, society and public health.
- Adequate contribution to the achievement of the goals set by the Framework Directive 2008/98/EC (amending 2018/851/EU) for waste, as well as National and European goals in accordance with the prioritization of waste.
- Increasing the rate of recovery and recycling of materials and reducing the biodegradable fraction that is sent to landfill, mainly through pruning and garden waste.
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and CH4).
- Creating new jobs.
The installation will include the following:
- Configuration of the area in which the loading - unloading, storage and removal of the mentioned materials will be accepted by the project with reinforced concrete floors due to the heavy vehicles that will enter the area.
- Central entry-exit gate
- Fencing of the plot: metal mesh on metal posts every 1.5 m of a total length of 230 m
- Prefabricated Facility Administration Building
- Prefab Building with public toilets / storage
- Shaping and planting the surrounding area with greenery (double cluster)
- Electrical installation and connection to the EAC network
- Lighting of entrance and administration building and building of public toilets/storage
- Installation of photovoltaic lights around the perimeter of the Green Spot
- Construction of a covered area (metal shed)
- In addition, the facility will include equipment for the waste streams it will receive (skips, plastic/metal bins, other recycling bins for batteries, lamps, edible oils)
- Parking and operation of a temporary green waste shredder (as needed)
Materials that will be collected at the Municipal Office:
The various types of materials and objects of household origin that will be collected in the PS are the following:
- Cleaning equipment
- Colors
- Thermometers
- Medicines
- Lamps
- Batteries
- Plastic containers
- Metal objects (scrap, radiators, etc.)
- Games
- Furniture
- Mattresses
- Packaging materials (cardboards)
- Pruning (green)
- Paper
- Glass
- Plastic
- Aluminum
- Fabrics (clothes, etc.)
- rugs
- Do It Yourself (DIY) materials: not aggregates in general, but potentially reusable tiles, sanitary ware, etc.
- Wood
- Other burial materials
- Idle
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
- Engine oils
According to the zoning plan of the proposed project, there will be 27 skips and 15 bins for waste storage. More specifically:
- 27 skip containers with a capacity of 10m3 for the collection of plastic containers, metal objects, furniture, mattresses, carpets, DIY constructions, wood, packaging materials (cardboards) and inert materials,
- 10 plastic bins with a capacity of 1100L for collecting cleaning materials, paints, toys, fabrics, paper, plastic, aluminum and waste materials,
- 2 plastic bins with a capacity of 240L for collecting batteries and lamps,
- 1 plastic bin with a capacity of 140L for collecting medicines, and
- 1 plastic bucket 4.2L for collecting thermometers.
The proposed project is expected to be built next to the former warehouse of SPE Sotiras and near SEDIGEP Sotiras, on part of the state parcel with no. 475, at F./Sh.: 0/2-285-376 with an area of 6423m2, which falls within the Town Planning Zone C2 (Agricultural Zone). The facility will include a loading-unloading area, vehicle movement corridors, a central entry-exit gate, storage areas for the various waste streams it will receive (a shed with skips, plastic/metal bins, recycling bins for batteries, lamps and edible oils) and areas parking. Regarding the processing of green waste, a shredder will be temporarily operating on site. In addition, prefabricated administration buildings and sanitary facilities will be placed on the site. As for the outside area, it will be shaped and planted with greenery in a double cluster, while photovoltaic lighting is expected to be installed around the perimeter of the facility.
The proposed project is not located near any Natura 2000 protected areas and therefore the Special Ecological Assessment does not apply. A Geological Subsoil Suitability Study has also been prepared for the project as planned.
The Department of the Environment did not detect any significant impacts during the operation of the proposed project, apart from the possible cause of fire from uncontrolled disposal of waste, the need for water for the main cleaning of the bins, the area and the transport vehicles, which is estimated at 13.5m3 per month and production of urban-type liquid waste, the generation of noise and, by extension, the movement of fauna in neighboring areas, the energy needs of the order of 110W/m2 per year and the release of dust from the operation of the shredder (non-continuous operation).
Famagusta.News