The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Environment announced today on Faial that the Government of the Azores will proceed this year with the sealing dumps and landfills on four islands in the context of the "political options" taken in the "area of waste management" for the Region.

"The political decision taken by the Azorean Government on waste management are intended to reduce the disposal of waste in landfills to the minimum and carry out interventions to seal the existing disposal sites (dumps and landfills) and promote their environmental rehabilitation," said Luís Neto de Viveiros at the opening of Faial Waste Processing Centre.

In this regard, the Regional Secretary added that the "procedures for sealing the dumps located on the island of Graciosa and Flores will start next month and the same interventions will be carried out in the landfills of Santa Maria and Corvo, later this year."

"The projects for the sealing of a dump on São Jorge and a landfill on Faial are already concluded. The procedures for the awarding of the contract works should be launched this year in order to begin the works in early 2016," revealed the government official.

For Luís Neto Viveiros, "we are at a turning point insofar as we are introducing significant changes with the implementation of one of the most important structural reforms ever made in the Azores. And with this desire to change, we will continue to follow the path towards sustainability."

As he mentioned, this is the path "the Azores will follow to reach by 2020 the goal towards the reuse and recycling of at least 50% of municipal waste, including paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, wood and biodegradable waste." With regard to the latter, "the amount of biodegradable municipal waste to be disposed of in landfills will be reduced to 33%."

The Regional Secretary also mentioned that the Flores and Graciosa Waste Processing Centres already forward over 85% of municipal waste to recycling.