Waste management PPP project launched in Kozani

Twelve municipalities in Greece’s Western Macedonia region have launched the pilot phase of a 48-million-euro integrated waste management project financed through a public-private partnership (PPP).

The maximum capacity of the unit in Kozani, which is expected to be fully operational in the summer, is approximately 120,000 tons per year. The operational period of the project is 25 years.

During a visit to the site on Tuesday, Deputy Economy Minister Stergios Pitsiorlas heralded PPPs as a promising model for development.

“PPPs may have been somewhat demonized in the past, but experience shows that they are a useful tool in the hands of the country,” he said.

The minister said he had partly given in to municipal demands for state subsidies to cover some of the higher cost for Western Macedonians, which is expected to rise from 37 (only for waste disposal) to 132 euros a ton.