Alonso Miguel visits the Waste Processing Centre on the island of Flores

Sept. 6, 2023

This Monday, the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, visited the Waste Processing Centre on the island of Flores following an intervention to eliminate waste liabilities.

According to Alonso Miguel, “the work now carried out has made it possible to remove the waste liabilities that had been accumulating at the Flores Waste Processing Centre over the last decade, a situation that was made worse by the destruction of the Port of Lajes das Flores following Hurricane Lorenzo”.

“As agreed at a meeting held here in Lajes das Flores on 5 July with the city councils, parish councils, members of the regional Parliament and the Flores Island Council, the unscreened stabilised organic compost was eliminated, which, as we know, was infested with cockroaches and therefore could not be transported by sea,” he said.

He explained that the first step in this operation consisted of removing all the waste from inside the Waste Processing Centre so as not to run the risk of it also becoming infested with cockroaches, which resulted in 43 containers of waste transported by sea, of which 31 containers of recyclable waste were sent directly to mainland Portugal, and 12 containers of scrap and other waste to Terceira island, destined for TERAMB.

“As planned, after a sorting and disinfestation operation, all the unscreened stabilised organic compost was transported for disposal at the Boca da Baleia gravel pit, owned by Lajes das Flores City Council, in conjunction with the gravel pit's technical director,” he added.

The Regional Secretary expressed “great satisfaction” at the fact that “normality and operability of the Waste Processing Centre on the island of Flores have been completely restored, following an unprecedented operation, exemplarily coordinated by the Regional Directorate for the Environment and Climate Change, which involved the collaboration and coordination of resources from the Lajes and Santa Cruz das Flores City Councils, the Forestry and Public Works Services, as well as Resiaçores”.

Alonso Miguel highlighted “the high sense of responsibility and pragmatism shown by the Lajes and Santa Cruz das Flores city councils, the parish councils, as well as the rest of the island's living forces, which were decisive in resolving this problem of waste accumulation, which not only put the functioning of the Waste Processing Centre at risk, which was completely overcrowded but also posed a serious threat in terms of public health”.

“In fact, while some, with demagogy, populism and irresponsibility, dramatize problems, this government finds solutions,” he stressed.

He said that “having solved this inherited problem and ensured that the Centre is operational, we are already focused on the future so that situations like this don't happen again on Flores, and the conditions are now in place to start work this week on the restructuring of the Flores Waste Processing Centre, to adapt it to the selective collection of organic waste and the production of quality compost, which has been granted to Tecnovia and will be completed by the end of 2023”.

“This work, together with the recent purchase of an industrial bio-crusher and a tracked machine with a clamp and bucket, represents an investment of more than one million euros by the Regional Government in the Flores Waste Processing Centre, which is a clear sign of the Government's commitment to ensuring proper waste management on Flores,” he concluded.