Planning of solid waste management in Attica prefecture, Greece

Abstract

It is the objective of this study to evaluate the intended construction and operation of sanitary landfill sites in Attica prefecture, Greece. The solid waste problem of Attica prefecture poses a serious environmental problem. Nowadays, the majority of solid waste produced in the prefecture is disposed in the sanitary landfill site of Ano Liosia, which is already overloaded, as well as in many uncontrolled landfill sites, provoking essential pollution. A lot of studies concerning constructing of new sanitary landfills have been completed in recent years in the prefecture. According to our research, these studies were not carried out in an appropriate way, since the eventually selected sites present specific disadvantages, which should have been considered more carefully. The selected site of Keratea, for example, which was examined during our research, presents essential disadvantages. The most important one relates to the fact that a water-stream passes through the selected site, while the legislation indicates that the location of sanitary landfill sites close to streams or rivers is forbidden, because it is possible to provoke substantial water pollution. All this evidence has shown that the solid waste planning in Attica prefecture should be reformed in order to evaluate the proposed sites in a more appropriate way.