The Vice-President of the Government conveyed at the opening of Terceira Waste Treatment and Recovery Plant his satisfaction with the "implementation of a substantial part of an extremely ambitious plan for the resolution of the waste problem in the Azores."
 
"With an investment over 78 million Euros in eight of the nine islands of the Azores, what was once a serious problem is now an economic opportunity and a source of income. In fact, it is no longer an environmental liability, being now a decisive factor in job creation and wealth generation," said Sérgio Ávila.
 
For the Vice-President, who chaired the opening on behalf of the President of the Government, the Azores have "have set an example to the country in this matter." In this context, he added that the investment in the plant now opened, "the most significant," has been achieved without both municipalities of Terceira Island allocating a single cent from their resources."
 
Moreover, the government official stressed that the Azorean Government has "managed to secure the full funding of the investment," which is quite relevant since, "in addition to the accomplishment of another stage in this project, both municipalities have preserved their capacity for further investments."
 
In his speech, Sérgio Ávila praised the municipalities of Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória for the implementation of the project, which, he recalled, was considered by some as "unrealistic" or even "impossible to achieve "due to Community programming periods.
 
"With hard work, competence and dedication, it was possible to implement this investment in the right time, while ensuring its full funding," said the government official.
 
For the Vice-President of the Government, "this is an example of competence and quality" that has led "to one of the most important investments that have been carried out in recent years on Terceira Island."
 
In a future perspective, Sérgio Ávila pointed out that "with the investments in this plant as well as in wind and geothermal power, a project under development, we have another good problem to face."
 
According to the Vice-President, this good problem is the fact that "the production of renewable energy may be over 50 percent of energy consumption on Terceira." This initiative also aims to store energy "to inject into the network when consumption demands require so" and, therefore, reduce fuel imports.
 
Sérgio Ávila also expressed the belief that we have "all the conditions to meet the challenge of technological innovation," making the Azores the region of the country with the highest level of renewable energy production and with the lowest level of fuel imports for energy production.