The Government of the Azores revealed today at the opening of the Waste Processing Centre of Pico Island that the implementation of the Strategic Waste Management Plan (PEGRA) is expected to generate an annual turnover exceeding 10 million Euros.

"The impact of the implementation of PEGRA on regional economy goes far beyond the investment of 200 million Euros in infrastructures," stressed the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and the Environment. The government official spoke at a ceremony that was also attended by the President of the Regional Government, Vasco Cordeiro.

Luís Neto Viveiros stressed that waste management is "a major environmental challenge, but also a social and economic challenge since the improvement of environmental performance should be combined with wealth generation and employment creation.

In order to maximise the value of waste, the Government "has carried out several investments on all islands to provide the Azores with effective and appropriate technological solutions, including waste sorting for recycling, composting and energy recovery."

Besides the design and construction of waste management infrastructures on the seven least populated islands, the Regional Secretary stressed the existence of "ongoing process for sealing dumps and landfills, representing a global investment of 43 million Euros."

The Waste Processing Centre of Pico is an investment of nearly six million Euros; its opening took place under the programme of the Government's statutory visit to Pico. This infrastructure will reduce the environmental impact of waste generated on the island of Pico.

The centre will have an expected annual to register an annual turnover of around half a million Euros and will create, at least, 10 direct and permanent jobs.

The new centre includes an EcoCentre designed to store the waste collected on the island is deposited selectively and sort the recyclable waste mixed with unsorted waste.

In addition, it also has Recovery Centre for Organic Composting, which will process organic waste into compost. This infrastructure will be an important resource for agriculture, farming or gardening, thus reducing the need to import compost and fertiliser.

A Transfer Station will allow the transport of non-recyclable waste to the appropriate final destination, either through energy recovery or disposal.

Luís Neto Viveiros also recalled that starting the operation of the Waste Centre "was not an easy process; although the work had been awarded about a year and half ago, some bidders have legally contested the decision concerning the awarding of concession for the operation of the centre."
 On September 31, the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed the decision taken by the jury of the tender, who had awarded the contract to Resiaçores without financial offset.

"We regret that, during this time, we were not able to put the centre at the service of Pico islanders; however, this aspiration could never override the rule of law and the due respect to all judicial decision as well as to the rights and guarantees of citizens and companies," said the Regional Secretary.