The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Environment stated today that the work of sealing two open dumps in the municipalities of Santa Cruz and Lajes das Flores, a public investment of around one million Euros will be concluded by the end of September.
 
Luís Neto Viveiros spoke during a visit to the sealing works of the dump located in the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores in the context of the Government's statutory visit to this island, where he became acquainted with the progress of the works and technical complexity of the project.

The contract work for the sealing of the two dumps, included in the Regional Public Works Charter, aims to eliminate sites that are not suited to the final disposal of waste and promote their landscape rehabilitation, improving environmental quality and public health.

In the context of the Strategic Waste Management Plan of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (PEGRA), the Regional Government is carrying out interventions to seal the dumps on seven of the nine islands of the archipelago, following the construction and entry into operation of the Waste Processing Centres on each of these islands.

The Flores and Graciosa Waste Processing Centres have already forwarded more than 85% of municipal waste for recycling more.

By 2020, the Azores intend to separate and forward at least 50% urban waste for recycling, including paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, wood and biodegradable waste, thus reducing the amount of biodegradable municipal waste disposed in landfalls to 33%.