After a sitting that ran for more than two hours on 6 October 2025, the Waste Management Association of Epirus agreed it will take and process only 4,000 tons of municipal waste from South Corfu, not the 11,000 tons listed in the Government Gazette (FEK). The presidium backed the majority view: no unprocessed waste should go to the Vlaherna landfill. The processing fee was set at just over €130 per ton.
Start Media TV, citing Epiruspost, reported that the plant is basically full. At first, services tried to read the FEK as requiring acceptance of the entire amount and treating disposal of unprocessed waste as “normal.” Then came pushback from municipal representatives-strong enough to force a tighter decision.
Why were only 4,000 tons approved?
President of the Association and mayor of Preveza, Nikos Georgakos, told members that in mid-September the Environment Ministry’s General Secretary for Waste sent a note directing Epirus to handle South Corfu’s refuse. He added that the FEK appeared late because of procedures. And there’s the crux: the Epirus facility says it can take only 4,000 of the 11,000 tons requested because it’s at the limit.
Who participated in the meeting?
- Arta mayor Christoforos Siafakas said his municipality heard about shipments to Vlaherna from news sites and checked on-site, arguing that taking unprocessed waste is unacceptable and financially unfair.
- The mayor of Nikolaos Skoufas, Kostas Papasiózos, criticized the president for letting waste arrive as early as 15 September without first consulting the board. That set off a sharp exchange.
- Vice-president Tatiana Kalogianni asked why the body would accept unprocessed trash after spending money on infrastructure, and she stressed there had been no internal briefing.
- Ioannina mayor Thomas Begas pointed to gaps in procedure and warned that “temporary” fixes have a way of sticking.
- Former Arta mayor Christos Tsirogiannis asked for a clear timeline and opposed makeshift arrangements.
What does this mean for Corfu?
For South Corfu, Epirus will accept only the 4,000 tons the plant can actually process. The Association’s director, Giannis Papagiannis, said the Vlaherna site can legally receive unprocessed waste and called the transfer a one-year, temporary fix that could be extended, just as it has been for almost four years with Central Corfu. Several mayors took issue with that. Discussion also touched on a possible transfer of 14,000 tons from North Corfu, which would require a separate decision.
How much will it cost?
The price was set at a little over €130 per ton. Arta’s mayor noted his municipality pays about €100 per ton and questioned how fair it is to divert South Corfu’s waste to the plant while others use the landfill.
When could the situation normalize?
There’s no firm timeline beyond the one-year horizon mentioned for this temporary setup. Residents’ reactions weren’t in the source material and would need verification.
Where to find more information?
Source: Epiruspost, via Start Media TV/Radio Kerkyra. Key procedural details, exact capacity numbers for the coming months, and plans for any volumes beyond 4,000 tons weren’t specified in the material available.
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