The Government of the Azores has decided to move forward with the investments intended to provide the Region with "effective and appropriate" technological solutions for waste management. The Azores already lead the Ponto Verde Society rankings on packaging waste management with the entry into operation of the Waste Processing Centres (CPR) on Flores and Graciosa.

"The data on the first two months of the operation of Flores and Graciosa Waste Processing Centres are extremely encouraging and have allowed us to lead the Ponto Verde Society rankings on packaging waste management," revealed the Regional Director for the Environment today in Ponta Delgada.

Speaking at the opening session of the seminar on "Waste Management," Hernâni Jorge noted that in order to "recover waste, several investments have been carried out across the archipelago to provide the Region with the effective and appropriate technological solutions, such as the sorting of waste for recycling and recovery by composting."

"In this context, we are currently revising PEGRA in order to include prevention strategies. Following this revision, it will be designated as Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Management of Waste in the Azores (PEPGRA). Additionally, the Government plans to seal and recovery the landfills located on the islands of Santa Maria, Corvo, Flores, Faial, São Jorge and Graciosa," stressed the government official.

According to the Regional Director for the Environment, a "major step" has been taken over the last decade a half, which he considered to be truly remarkable, but not always duly recognised. We have found the solutions for the most emerging problems and created the conditions to start a new path."

"Disposing of waste on a landfill cannot be solution due the obvious incompatibility with the quality of the environment and life we want to preserve in the Azores, said Hernâni Jorge at the opening of the seminar held by the Portuguese Association of Environmental Technology Companies (APEMETA). The organisation of the event is also supported by the Regional Secretariat for Natural Resources through the Entity for the Regulation of Water and Waste Services in the Azores (ERSARA).

"In 2011, the disposal of waste in landfills represented 87 percent, which required from us a huge effort, either in the prevention and reduction of production or the selective collection, sorting and recovery," stressed the government official.

The Regional Director also defended that "we should not be prejudiced regarding legal and tested technical solutions, such as the case of incineration with energy recovery, provided that the size is suited to the current context of waste production and management in the archipelago."
 
For Hernâni Jorge, these solutions should be "in line with the commitments taken by the Region regarding waste recovery goals for the year 2020" as evidenced by the projects for the Energy Recovery Plants on São Miguel and Terceira, "which were reduced by nearly 40 percent compared to the estimates in previous studies."