Corfu, December 23, 2025 – A pivotal moment for Corfu’s environmental future unfolded yesterday with the signing of the contract for the construction of a state-of-the-art Waste Management Unit (WMU). The agreement, valued at 34.5 million euros, was finalized between the Governor of the Ionian Islands and President of FODSA Ionian Islands, Giannis Trepekli, and representatives of the contracting consortium TERNA Energeiaki – Mesogeios SA, George Perdikaris and Dionysis Georgopoulos.
A Decades-Long Problem Nears Resolution
The signing ceremony, held at the headquarters of the Ionian Islands Region, signifies the definitive implementation of a project deemed crucial for Corfu and the overall solid waste management across the Ionian Islands. Governor Trepekli, visibly moved, recalled his efforts as Mayor of Corfu in 2014, when the project was on the verge of realization through Public-Private Partnership procedures. He emphasized that the subsequent cancellation of the project led to one of the most challenging periods in the island’s modern history, severely impacting daily life, public health, the environment, and Corfu’s international image.
Eleven years later, the Ionian Islands Region, under Trepekli’s leadership, is bringing this project back to life with institutional maturity, political persistence, and cross-party cooperation. The WMU is expected to provide a permanent solution to a complex and chronic problem, representing a political choice of responsibility with long-term benefits for citizens and the region.
“Today’s signing is not just the contracting of a major infrastructure project. It is proof that big problems are not solved with opportunistic choices and temporary management, but with strategic planning, institutional continuity, and political persistence. Corfu paid dearly in the past for the postponement and cancellation of decisions. Today, as the Ionian Islands Region and as FODSA, we are definitively closing a decades-old outstanding issue and proving that local government can plan, claim, and implement projects with terms of responsibility, environmental respect, and prospects for citizens and the region,” emphasized Governor Trepekli.
Project Details and Environmental Impact
The Corfu Waste Management Unit, with a total budget of 34.5 million euros, will be constructed at the location “Akrokefalos Temploni.” It will serve the entire Regional Unit of Corfu, including the Municipalities of North, Central, and South Corfu, as well as the Municipality of Paxos. Designed with modern technological specifications, the unit aims to ensure high recovery rates and minimal landfilling, thereby significantly contributing to reducing the environmental footprint and economic costs for municipalities and, consequently, for citizens.
Support from National and Local Officials
The event saw the participation and greetings, via teleconference, from the Secretary-General of Waste Management of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Manolis Grafakos, and the Head of the Subcommittee of the Environment Sector of the Special Management Service for Programs of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Nikos Mamaloukas. Both acknowledged the strategic choice of the government and the decisive role of the Ionian Islands Region and the Governor personally in creating the conditions for the project’s implementation.
Greetings were also extended by the Deputy Minister of Shipping and Island Policy and Corfu MP, Stefanos Gikas; the Mayor of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands, Stefanos Poulis; the Mayor of North Corfu, George Macheimaris; the Mayor of Lefkada, Xenophon Verginis; and the Technical Advisor of FODSA Ionian Islands, Damianos Bourkas.
Also present were the Mayor of South Corfu, Giannis Kavadia; regional and municipal councilors; executives of FODSA Ionian Islands and the Ionian Islands Region; and representatives of productive and social bodies of the island.
With the signing of this contract, the Ionian Islands Region demonstrates its commitment to addressing long-standing issues through strategic planning, institutional continuity, and political will. Giannis Trepekli reaffirms his role as a local government official who never abandoned the fight for a definitive, sustainable, and modern solution to Corfu’s waste management, transforming a prolonged outstanding issue into a project of implementation and prospect.
