FEBRUARY 2017
The first Recycling & Environmental Education Park in Europe was inaugurated in the wider area of the Agioi Anargyroi & Kamatero town hall in the presence of the f.Greek President, Prokopios Pavlopoulos and prestigious figures from Greece and abroad.
The first Recycling & Environmental Education Park was created by the National Collective System REWARDING RECYCLING in partnership with the Municipality of Agioi Anargyroi & Kamatero, and is the first in Europe.
The aim of the Recycling Park is to strengthen the environmental education and awareness of young people, and to increase the participation of citizens in the recycling process.
The f.Greek President, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, who opened the Recycling Park, said: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to shine a spotlight on this cutting-edge endeavour on the part of the State. It is a great start and I am here to emphasise the need to find as many imitators as possible.”
Read the full speech by the f.President of Greece, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, here.
Welcoming the attendees, the Mayor of Agioi Anargyroi & Kamatero, Nikos Sarantis, said: “We are happy that such a unique Recycling Multi-Space has been created in our municipality, combining education and recycling with recreation and play. We are certain that in partnership with the Ministry, the Region, the other municipalities and REWARDING RECYCLING, we will be able to play our part in achieving the national recycling targets. We are confident that with the opening of the Recycling Park, we will be able to create a new starting point for efforts to promote recycling in this country.”
The official opening was welcomed by the prime minister’s representative, the Deputy Minister for the Environment and Energy, Sokratis Famellos; the representative of the Archbishop of Athens & All Greece, Protosyncellus Simeon; the Cypriot Minister of the Environment, Nicos Kouyialis; the Swedish Ambassador to Greece, Charlotte Wrangberg; the French Ambassador to Greece, Christophe Chantepy; the representative of the European Commission Directorate-General for Environment, Georges Kremlis; the representative of the Governor of Attiki, Spyros Tzokas; and the President of the Board of Directors of the Collective System REWARDING RECYCLING, Pavlos Ravanis, who pointed out: "We are particularly proud that we have installed and will operate the high-tech Rewarding Recycling Multicentre at the Recycling and Environmental Education Park, making Greece only the second country, after Sweden, where it will operate. We are demonstrating in practice that in Greece we can innovate and lead the way in recycling. With the new Recycling Multicentre, which is the most advanced packaging recycling equipment, recycling enters a new stage of development and Greece’s citizens will now be able to recycle faster and more easily that anywhere in the world.”
During the opening ceremony, the Mayor of Agioi Anargyroi & Kamatero and the President of the Board of Directors of the Collective System Rewarding Recycling presented the Greek President with a symbolic gilded olive, conveying a vital message to Greek society and Europe’s community as a whole about the importance of recycling and being environmentally aware.
Two hundred schoolchildren who had won “Big Recycling Contests” at “Big Recycling Festivals for Schoolchildren” in municipalities throughout Greece were invited to the official opening of the Recycling Park.
Also in attendance were the Deputy Minister of Rural Development, Giannis Tsironis; the representative of the President of New Democracy, Kostas Skrekas MP; the representative of the President of Pasok, Ioannis Maniatis; the MPs Dimitris Konstantopoulos, Georgia Martinou and Anna Karamanli; mayors, former mayors, and representatives of authorities, institutions and agencies.