The Regional Secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism revealed in Santa Cruz that Flores is the first island of the archipelago to reach the "zero landfill" target by recovering all urban waste.
"This is an example that makes us proud and we want it to have repercussions on all islands," said Marta Guerreiro. She spoke after a visit to the intervention that will reinforce the vegetation cover of the sealing works of the old landfill in Santa Cruz das Flores.
The Secretary for the Environment pointed out that, "last year, the island of Flores recovered all of its urban waste, of which 83% were forwarded to material and organic recovery and 17% for energy recovery."
"We should mention that these figures are the result of the good work that has been carried out by both municipalities of Flores Island in developing their urban waste collection systems, including selective collection," stressed the government official.
During this visit to the consolidation works on the slopes of Santa Cruz landfill, the Regional Secretary expressed her satisfaction with the ongoing works, which are taking place following some landslides with landscape impact.
"After the conclusion of the sealing works of Santa Cruz das Flores landfill, the outer layer of the sealing slipped and did not allow the development of the vegetation cover; the latter has the sole function of mitigating the visual aspect of this intervention," said Marta Guerreiro.
In this regard, "the Government has activated the necessary procedures to tackle the sustaining issues of the vegetation cover. With a budget of 276 thousand Euros, the contract is underway and will be completed later this year," said the Regional Secretary. Moreover, "after the removal of the debris, the intervention includes the digging of ditches on the crest of the slope."
"From an environmental perspective, the mass of waste is duly sealed and isolated, fulfilling the main purpose of the contract work," said Marta Guerreiro.