Doing the Rounds with Kefalonias Christmas Day Waste Collection Crews

Once Santa has finished making his rounds on Kefalonia, it's the turn of the island's bin men to collect the waste left behind. Image credit: Gary Bembridge On the Greek island of Kefalonia the waste collection service operates 365 days a year, including Christmas Day. Timothy Byrne finds out what that entails… Argostoli, capital city of the Greek island of Kefalonia has a modern shopping centre and functions as the main port for the island, which has a thriving fishing industry and population of 10,633. Most people think of Kefalonia as a holiday destination for the summer months, but once the summer has finished, Argostoli remains a busy city. In the Christmas period, many Greek people from the mainland such as Athens, Patras and Killini, travel by ferry to Kefalonia to visit family and friends. They also take the opportunity to do their Christmas shopping and to visit the Christmas Fayre which is in the Central Square of Argostoli. One Christmas Collection Although large volumes of waste are produced in Argostoli during the summer months, mainly by the hotels, apartments and tavernas, there is still plenty of waste produced throughout the rest of the year, especially at Christmas. Christmas parties, people dining out and the night clubs in Argostoli’s Central Square all produce large quantities of waste. Waste management on Kefalonia is the responsibility of the Intermunicipal Enterprise for Waste Management and Environmental Protection which also has responsibility for the treatment of waste for the neighbouring island of Ithaki. Due to large volumes of waste being produced in Argostoli both in and out of season, waste collection is carried out 365 days a year, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday. This helps to maintain the cleanliness of the capital as well as delivering an efficient and sustainable waste collection service to its inhabitants and visitors. Three Trucks Trucking To provide the waste collection service on Christmas Day the Intermunicipal Enterprise for Waste Management and Environmental Protection use three waste collection vehicles. Two large refuse collection vehicles are used. One is an Iveco Trakker 450 6x4 26 tonne chassis are fitted with 22 cubic metre Kaoussis Norba RL300 intermittent rear loading compaction body and Kaoussis comb and trunnion lift which can handle DIN 30700 and DIN 30740 wheeled containers from 80 – 1280 litres in capacity. One of these vehicles completes the largest collection round in Argostoli, concentrating on emptying all of the 1100 litre roll top steel containers positioned at communal collection points along its main streets. This vehicle and crew also collects waste left out in plastic sacks by occupants of houses, flats or shared accommodation. The Trakker 450’s round also involves the crew collecting waste deposited in plastic sacks or boxes from residents’ properties in side alleys, off some of the main streets serviced by this truck. The second collection vehicle used on Christmas Day is an Iveco Eurocargo 190EL28 two axle 18 tonne chassis with Kaoussis Norba RL300 16 cubic metre bodywork. It has a bin lift which is to the same specification as that fitted on the Kaoussis Norba RL300 22 cubic metre unit mounted on the Iveco Trakker 6x4 26 tonne chassis. The Eurocargo is used to collect waste deposited in 1100 litre containers from communal collection points inside the central part of the city which the 26 tonne 6x4 Iveco Trakker 450 cannot reach. This collection truck’s round also includes servicing the side streets of the main thoroughfares in Argostoli as well as collecting all of the waste in the Central Square. A Mercedes Atego 815 7.5 tonne two axle chassis fitted with Kaoussis CRV 1000 satellite waste collection equipment is used as a smaller third refuse collection vehicle. This vehicle also features a bar lift which can empty containers from 80 -1280 litres capacity DIN 30700 and DIN 30740 types. It is used to service the hospital in Argostoli as well as the tight streets of the city, including the central shopping area, which the two other larger collection vehicles cannot reach because of their size. The compact dimensions of the Mercedes Atego 815 7.5 tonne two axle Kaoussis CRV 1000 satellite waste collection vehicle assists in the efficient collection of waste from these areas. Eight Collectors Collecting A total of eight operatives are used to provide the waste collection service on Christmas Day. This includes six operatives for the two larger vehicles, a driver for each and two loaders. A driver and a single loader are used for the smaller satellite waste collection vehicle. The service commences on Christmas Day at 5.30am for the two large collection vehicles and around 6.00am for the smaller satellite waste collection vehicle. This is the best time to start because most of the restaurants, tavernas and night clubs close at 4am on Christmas Day, so there are minimal volumes of traffic on the streets at 5.30am, thus making the waste collection service very efficient and productive. There are large volumes of waste to be collected on Christmas Day because most of the 1100 litre containers at the communal collection points are full and there are piles of bags of waste consisting of food waste, glass beer and wine bottles as well as piles of cardboard boxes next to the full 1100 litre containers from parties held by families on Christmas Eve. Large volumes of waste are also evident in the Central Square of Argostoli stored in piles of plastic refuse sacks containing food waste and glass beer and wine bottles produced by the restaurants, tavernas and night clubs surrounding the Central Square awaiting collection. There are also large volumes of waste piled next to the three 1100 litre containers at the communal collection point of the fish market on Argostoli seafront. This comes from two sources, firstly shoppers buying fresh fish on Christmas Eve, and secondly from the export of fish. The collection crews of the two large waste vehicles empty the 1100 litre containers at the communal collection points and load the additional quantities of waste in plastic refuse sacks, cardboard boxes etc. into the hopper of the waste collection vehicles. Any remaining debris is swept up by the collection crews and loaded into the hopper of the vehicles to make sure that all of the waste has been cleared. The crews may be clearing waste from some of the communal collection points for ten minutes if there are large piles of excess waste. The vehicles use their flashing beacons for the duration of the waste collection shift, ensuring the vehicles are visible to taxis and other traffic. The waste collection service on Christmas Day takes anything from three to four hours to complete. This is achieved by the hard work of the driver and the loaders deployed on each collection truck. Once the larger Iveco Trakker 450 vehicle has finished its round in Argostoli it heads back to the central depot where all of the waste collection vehicles which service Argostoli, Sami, Agia Effimia, Antisamos, Poros, Skala, Minia, Lakithra, Svoronata, Travliata, Metaxata, Spartia, Lourdas, Pesada etc. are parked. An office is situated inside this central depot where all operational, managerial and strategic waste collection and waste treatment decisions are made for the island. The smaller Mercedes Atego vehicle discharges its load of waste into the hopper of the Iveco Trakker, which acts as a ‘mothership’ vehicle reducing the need for the satellite Atego to drive to the island’s sanitary landfill site. Twelve Tonnes of Waste Once Atego has discharged its load into the hopper of the Trakker 450, and it has been compacted, the Trakker is fully loaded with twelve tonnes of municipal waste. The Atego is then washed out internally and externally using the washing facilities at the depot by its driver and loader before finishing for the day. The Trakker heads to the sanitary landfill site for the island at Pallosti towards the north of the island. The landfill disposes of all waste produced across the island, as well as waste from the neighbouring island of Ithaki. By this time, the Iveco Eurocargo will either be already discharging at the landfill or on its way back to the depot, as it goes to the landfill directly after finishing its collection round in Argostoli. Once the Trakker arrives at the landfill its load is weighed on the computerised weighbridge. Then it drives to the tip face of the landfill site and discharges its load. A Tana landfill compactor then compresses and compacts the load before it is covered with soil. The landfill site complies fully with the requirements of the EU Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) and is of a bioreactor design. The leachate is collected in an underground tank situated underneath the body of the landfill. The leachate is redispersed through the mass of waste at selected intervals helping to speed up the degradation of the waste. The methane produced inside the landfill is flared off site using a flare torch. Once Trakker has discharged its load it returns to the vehicle depot at Argostoli where, along with the Eurocargo, it is washed both internally and externally. In conclusion, the island of Kefalonia provides an effective and efficient waste collection and treatment system for the island 365 days a year. The levels of service far exceed those in many countries, including the UK, where there has been a long running debate surrounding weekly, fortnightly, three weekly and even monthly waste collections waste collections. In Argostoli the drivers and loaders choose to work Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday to help keep the environment of the city in a pristine condition. By Timothy Byrne, MCIWM chartered waste manager, ISWA international waste manager and associate member of Ategrus (Spanish Solid Waste Association). 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