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Livas: +43% waste with +1.7% visitors and a plant “only at the foundations” — the key points from the Municipal Council

August 2026: 7,000 tonnes of waste at Livas (+43%) with passengers +1.7%; plant 'only at the foundations' (image text in Greek)

The Citizens of Zakynthos followed the 24th regular session of the Municipal Council. To keep the public informed, we set out the most important points on waste and the Livas facility, with numbers, sources and our own view.

At the session, the "Dynami Elpidas" group raised questions about how Livas operates. The Mayor invited the Director of the Ionian Islands Solid Waste Management Body (FoDSA), Th. Kardaris, to answer ([2:36:23]). The whole session is on Imera newspaper's YouTube channel (in Greek). Click any timestamp (▶) to watch that moment of the video inside the text. Quotes are our translation. The session took place two days after the meeting on cleanliness, which we covered in article 323.

At a glance: In August 2026, 7,000 tonnes of waste went up to Livas, against 4,900 a year earlier: +43%. Airport passengers rose by just 1.7%. In September, waste was up 35% and passengers down 1.2%. The FoDSA Director himself said the increase is "probably" because "even recycling is being taken to Livas". He also said the plant, under contract since 2021 with a 24-month deadline, is still "only at the foundations", that they are "not at all" satisfied with recyclables, and that if mixed waste is still going up in 2035, €12 million will have to be returned to the EU. Every tonne is paid for by the Municipality, that is, by its residents.

1. Waste shot up, visitors did not

MonthTonnes at LivasZakynthos airport passengers
August 20254,900527,049
August 20267,000 (+43%)535,846 (+1.7%)
September 20253,838402,034
September 20265,185 (+35%)397,207 (−1.2%)

The waste figures were given by Th. Kardaris: "I have been working for 33 years. I never imagined that an August would come when 7,000 tonnes of waste would go up. It is incredible, it is unimaginable" ([2:52:50]). In previous years, August saw 4,700 tonnes (2024), "6,000-something" (2023) and 4,500 (2022) ([2:53:28]). For September: 5,185 tonnes in 2026, 3,838 in 2025 and 3,824 in 2024, "that is normal […] August and September in Zakynthos shot up unnaturally" ([3:17:20]). The passenger figures are from Fraport Greece (August, September).

Our view: With almost the same number of visitors as last year, a 35–43% rise in waste cannot be explained by tourism. It needs an explanation backed by data, not guesswork.

2. The FoDSA: "even recycling is being taken to Livas"

The FoDSA Director, on the increase: "This increase in waste in recent years probably comes from the fact that all waste, even recycling, is being taken to Livas" ([3:12:47]).

Two days earlier, at the meeting on cleanliness, the Mayor had said: "now everything is loaded into the garbage truck, blue, green bin […] we did it and the previous municipal authority did it too […] everything in, and we took it up there" (meeting 9/11, 2:46:58).

The increase also coincides with the first two full months of collection by the private contractor, which started on 19/7/2026 (waste collection file, in Greek).

Our view: If the blue bin is loaded together with the green one, recyclables are weighed and paid for as waste. In other words, the citizen who recycles pays to have their recycling buried.

3. The Municipality and the FoDSA say different things about recycling

The Municipal Authority (meeting 9/11)The FoDSA (Municipal Council)
Recyclables "go to Livas but are recycled" (1:18:59)"As for recyclable materials, [satisfied] not at all" ([2:48:09]). Hand sorting yields "a very, very small percentage", i.e. "100–200 tonnes", which "is not what we want" ([2:49:22])
Goal: cut waste by 50% by the end of the term (2:43:49)The Municipality's recycling moves are "in the right direction, but they are 5% of the effort we must make" ([2:56:04])
What went to Agrinio "was sent back to us" (0:22:57)In the RAAEY report, with FoDSA data: 60.89% recovery of 2,626 tonnes at the Agrinio materials recovery facility (RAAEY No 03/2025, p. 15)

The FoDSA also made clear that "recycling, separation at source […] are the responsibility of the Municipalities" ([3:12:47]). The same goes for Green Points, Creative Reuse Centres, green corners and composting: "all of this is the agenda for the coming days, weeks and months" ([2:59:42]).

4. Livas receives 30% more than it was designed for

"Livas receives the mixed waste of Zakynthos, which has now reached 35,000 tonnes, against the 27 [thousand] it was designed for" ([2:48:40]). The organic fraction that is separated out (30–40%) becomes CLO (compost-like output), and "because no quarry in Zakynthos is undergoing restoration, it goes to cover the waste" ([2:49:13]). RAAEY says the same: 100% of CLO used "as cover at a Sanitary Landfill".

"2026 will close with 35,000 tonnes of waste" ([3:01:37]).

5. The plant: "already under construction", but "only at the foundations"

  • The contract for the plant was signed in 2021, with a 24-month deadline (Imera, 22/1/2021). The FoDSA says: "A contract was signed for building the project in 2021. When the contractor moved in, there were 53 stremmata [5.3 hectares] full of bales" ([2:50:15]).
  • "The plant is already under construction" ([2:59:18]). Asked how far construction had got when it stopped so the design could be changed: "only at the foundations" ([3:06:28]).
  • At Livas, since 2017, everything is prefabricated: offices, weighbridge, guardhouse. The only permanent structure is the liquid waste facility ([3:06:30]).
  • The FoDSA is submitting a funding proposal for a second landfill cell, "absolutely necessary at Livas", and on 4 December a proposal for supplementary funding for the plant ([2:58:45]).

In March 2025 the Regional Governor said construction was "moving at a rapid pace" (Imera, 20/3/2025).

6. What RAAEY said and what the FoDSA says today

RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, assesses the Ionian Islands FoDSA every year using data submitted by the body itself: No 03/2025 and No 13/2026 (in Greek). Set side by side with what was said at the Municipal Council:

IssueRAAEY reportTh. Kardaris at the Municipal Council
PlantNo 03/2025: "Construction started in March 2020 […] the Mechanical-Biological Treatment / Materials Recovery Facility is being built" (p. 13). No 13/2026: of the 4 planned facilities, "2 operate, in Zakynthos and Kefalonia" (Table 3, p. 19)"We have been operating a transitional management system since 2018" ([2:50:00]). The plant is "only at the foundations" ([3:06:28])
Incoming mixed waste32,521 tonnes (No 03/2025, p. 11)35,000 tonnes, against 27,000 in the design ([2:48:40])
Recycling at the facility0.31%, about 100 tonnes (p. 15)"100–200 tonnes" ([2:49:22]). The two figures agree.
Landfill / diversion71.44% landfilled; 100% of CLO used as landfill cover (pp. 11, 15)"Diversion" of 32–33% ([3:13:35]). But diversion counts the organic fraction that becomes CLO and ends up, by his own account, "covering the waste" ([2:49:13])
Separate collection of organics0 for Zakynthos; "responsibility for separate collection lies with the Municipalities" (No 13/2026, p. 19)By 2035 it must be 33%, otherwise €12 million will be returned ([2:51:15])

Our first question to RAAEY (13/1/2026)

On 13/1/2026 we wrote to RAAEY ([email protected]) as residents of Zakynthos. We reminded it that the FoDSA's management adequacy certification was valid until 31/12/2025. We also listed what RAAEY itself had found about Zakynthos in its report:

  • 0.31% recycling at the processing facility;
  • 0% separate collection of biowaste;
  • 71.44% of waste landfilled;
  • €912,382 in accumulated debts;
  • €80.50/tonne management cost for the Municipality;
  • an open-air temporary facility since 2018;
  • CLO stored for more than 2 years;
  • environmental violations at Skopos.

We asked three things:

  1. Where do we stand today, and can the FoDSA be granted management adequacy again after 31/12/2025 while all of the above still applies?
  2. Will there be a new inspection, and will the findings on RAAEY's recommendations be published?
  3. How is the Skopos landfill progressing, where no restoration work has started, and does RAAEY have a say in this?

What answer we got: only the automatic registration receipt (I-408966/14.1.2026). We received no substantive answer to any of the three questions, not even after 10 months. In May 2026 RAAEY assessed the FoDSA "positively as regards its management adequacy" (No 13/2026, p. 33). It did so without any of the facts we had raised having changed.

Our new email to RAAEY (11/11/2026)

On the evening of the session, 11/11/2026, we sent RAAEY (Waste Branch) a follow-up to I-408966/14.01.2026. Subject: "Ionian Islands FoDSA – Zakynthos: new evidence contradicting Report No 13/2026 – Request for review and inspection". In it we set out the facts in this article, each with its minute in the video:

  • The report says the Zakynthos facility "operates". The FoDSA Director says the plant is "only at the foundations".
  • Livas receives 35,000 tonnes, while it was designed for 27,000.
  • Waste rose 43% in August and 35% in September, while passengers changed by +1.7% and −1.2%.
  • The FoDSA and the Mayor stated that recycling is loaded together with mixed waste. Article 23(2) of Law 4819/2021 prohibits mixing separately collected waste.
  • In practice no materials are recovered at the facility (100–200 tonnes). CLO goes to landfill cover but counts as "diversion".
  • Weighing is done by "the Municipality or the contractor". The contractor states that it is "under the umbrella" of MESOGEIOS, and the Municipality pays €80.50 per tonne.
  • The monitoring wells are dry, so samples are taken from DEYAZ boreholes. Leachate is sprayed back onto the cell and the reports are not published.
  • Separate collection of organics is 0. If targets are not met, the FoDSA says €12 million will be returned in 2035.

We asked RAAEY:

  1. to explain how the same facility is described as "operating" while it is "at the foundations", and to review the management adequacy certification;
  2. for the monthly weighbridge records for 2024–2026, by vehicle, origin and stream, as well as the weighbridge's certification and who operates it;
  3. to examine the 35–43% increase for possible mixing of streams;
  4. for the monthly reports and the data under Article 31(3) of Law 4819/2021, as an access request under Article 5 of Law 2690/1999;
  5. to judge whether monitoring groundwater through DEYAZ boreholes is adequate.

We asked for a written reply. We will publish it here as soon as we receive it.

7. €12 million at risk of being returned in 2035

"In 2035 the 35,000 tonnes of the Municipality of Zakynthos may not go up as mixed waste. If they go up as mixed waste, the €12 million of funding will have to be returned […] to the European funds". By 2035, 33% must be collected separately as organics and another 33% as recyclables ([2:51:15]). Today separate collection of organics is 0 (RAAEY).

And the contract with the private contractor? The €9.62 million collection contract, signed in July 2026 and running to 2028 (with a possible extension to 2029), covers mixed waste, bulky waste, bin washing and a transfer station. Nowhere does it provide for separate collection of organics or any other stream (tender notice, pp. 48–55, in Greek). The FoDSA is asking for three streams. It even described the Municipality's recycling effort as "5% of the effort we must make in the coming years" ([2:55:58]).

Our view: The Municipality committed almost €10 million to a model that collects all waste together. At the same time the FoDSA says that in a few years this will be prohibited and will cost €12 million in repayments. With no plan for organics, no Green Point and rising weighbridge figures, this looks like experimenting with residents' money.

8. Who weighs? The same group at every link

  • Asked who does the weighing, the FoDSA Director replied: "First it is done by the Municipality or the Municipality's contractor that transports the waste". He added that at Livas there is a weighbridge connected to the FoDSA's systems ([2:54:28]).
  • The Municipality's contractor for collection and transport to Livas is XENOS ATEVE (a €9.62 million contract).
  • At the contract signing, the company's representative D. Xenos said: "The processing up at Livas and the construction of the plant, we do it […] We are 'under the umbrella' of MESOGEIOS" (Imera, 13/7/2026).
  • At the cleanliness meeting the Municipal Authority said MESOGEIOS "is asking 2.5 to 3 million euros a year to manage this volume" (meeting 9/11, 1:57:53).
  • A municipal councillor asked: "Why don't you, as the Municipality, do the weighing?" ([3:09:09]).

Our view: The same business group collects the waste, transports it, by its own account does the processing at Livas, and is building the plant. Volume drives the Municipality's costs. That is why weighing must be checked independently by the Municipality and the weighbridge records published every month.

9. Residents pay for every extra tonne

According to RAAEY, the FoDSA charges the Municipality €80.50 per tonne, including disposal (report No 03/2025, p. 15). The landfill levy "is now going to 40 […] 40 euros a tonne permanently" ([3:16:55]). The extra tonnes in August and September 2026 compared with 2025 alone come to 3,447. At €80.50 a tonne, that means about €277,000 in two months.

The July promises. At the signing of the contract with XENOS ATEVE, Deputy Mayor for Cleanliness N. Giakoumelos pledged that by the end of the partnership "we will have achieved the biggest undertaking: a 50% reduction in the volume of Zakynthos's waste" (Imera, 13/7/2026). A few days later, answering the opposition on cost: "As for municipal charges, the mayor has publicly committed that there will be no increase at all. He has full control of the financial services and knows better than anyone whether the Municipality can bear this process financially" (Imera, 18/7/2026).

July 2026: the pledgeAugust–September 2026: the data
A 50% reduction in waste volumeUp 43% in August and 35% in September, with passengers +1.7% and −1.2% (section 1)
No increase in municipal chargesAbout €277,000 of extra disposal cost paid to the FoDSA in two months. This comes on top of the collection contract, which costs about €15,760 a day including VAT in the high season (waste collection file, in Greek)

Our view: Municipal charges are set every year by the Municipal Council, usually at the end of the year. The 2025 charges, for example, were voted on 22/11/2024 (ΨΓ9ΘΩΡ1-7Υ9). The decision on the 2027 charges will show whether the July pledge holds. If charges do not rise, residents have a right to know which budget line will pay for the extra tonnes.

10. Water: "the Livas outflow is better than the water we drink"

  • The groundwater monitoring wells around Livas found no water. So since 2024, samples have been taken every quarter from two DEYAZ boreholes: at Pigadakia and at "Melissa 2" in Katastari ([2:44:34]).
  • The FoDSA Director: "the outflow water from the Livas facilities is of better quality than what […] we find at Pigadakia, that is, the water all of us in Zakynthos use" ([2:45:52]).
  • Treated leachate is sprayed back onto the cell, "on top of the membranes" ([3:04:40]).
  • The monthly reports and analyses are not published. Citizens can request them ([3:11:51]).

Our view: When the official in charge of waste says publicly that the landfill's outflow is better than DEYAZ's water, the water problem is even bigger than we say ("Water & DEYAZ" file, in Greek; our interview in English). The analyses must be published, just as DEYAZ's analyses are.

11. The Local Plan: paid for in 2025, still unpublished

Every municipality must have a Local Waste Management Plan (ΤΣΔΑ). This is set by article 319 of the new Local Government Code (Law 5314/2026). In addition, Law 4819/2021 (article 58) requires citizens to take part in drawing it up. The records on Diavgeia:

  • 2021: The Municipality writes that for separate collection of recyclables and biowaste "specific targets have been set […] in the Local Decentralised Waste Management Plan (ΤΣΔΑ) of our Municipality" (63ΔΧΩΡ1-Ψ4Ξ). Separate collection of biowaste is 0 today (RAAEY).
  • 9/4/2025: The Mayor approves a study by the Cleanliness Directorate for "Support services for implementing the Local Waste Management Plan in Zakynthos" (Ε7ΞΝΩΡ1-Ρ4Η). The study says: "The Municipality of Zakynthos will immediately begin drawing up its Local Plan, covering the five years 2025–2029". And on residents: "whose information, participation and cooperation are of decisive importance". On the same day €24,800 is committed (9ΤΤΒΩΡ1-3ΓΦ).
  • 26/6/2025: The service is directly awarded to the company ΣΤΑΥΡΟΥ ΠΕΤΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΙΑ ΕΕ of Ioannina, for €24,180 including VAT (Mayoral decision 429/2025, 9ΟΕΑΩΡ1-5Ω7). The contract runs 4 months, with a final completion report due in the fourth month.
  • End of 2025: In the budget execution report, code 20.6142.003 shows the full amount paid, €24,180 (ΨΟΗΜΩΡ1-ΔΦΥ).
  • 9/11/2026: At the cleanliness meeting, the municipal authority announced that the Local Plan is coming to the Municipal Council (meeting 9/11, 0:29:31). The text has not been posted on the Municipality's website and no consultation has been opened.

Our view: The plan covers the five years 2025–2029 and was paid for in full in 2025. Almost two of its five years have passed, and residents, whom the study itself calls "of decisive importance", have not seen it. Meanwhile the Municipality signed a €9.62 million contract for mixed-waste collection only, with no organics and no Green Point. So what does the plan say about organics, Green Points and the 2035 targets set out by the FoDSA? And how does the contract fit with it? The plan must be put to public consultation before it reaches the Municipal Council, together with the FoDSA's opinion (Law 4819/2021, article 56).

What we ask for

  1. Monthly publication of the weighbridge records, per vehicle and per stream (green, blue, bulky), with independent weighing by the Municipality.
  2. An evidence-based explanation for the 35–43% increase in August and September 2026, when passenger traffic stayed flat.
  3. Confirmation that the blue bin is no longer loaded with the green one, with data from the materials recovery facility on what is recovered and what is buried.
  4. Publication of the monthly Livas operating reports and the leachate and borehole analyses.
  5. A timetable for the plant, the Green Point and separate collection of organics, before the Local Waste Management Plan is voted on.
  6. Publication of the Local Plan, updated for €24,180 in 2025, for public consultation before the vote.
  7. A public answer on how the extra disposal cost will be paid without raising municipal charges, as the municipal authority pledged.

We ask the services to do their job as the law requires, and elected officials to put residents first. The waste of 2035 is being made today.

Transcription: automatic (Whisper) from the session video. The numbers and quotes were re-checked against the audio. All quotes are our translation from Greek.

Sources: Video of the 24th regular session of the Municipal Council (Imera, 11/11/2026) · Video of the cleanliness meeting (9/11/2026) · Fraport Greece, August 2026 and September 2026 · RAAEY, report No 03/2025 · Diavgeia: Ε7ΞΝΩΡ1-Ρ4Η, 9ΟΕΑΩΡ1-5Ω7, 9ΤΤΒΩΡ1-3ΓΦ, ΨΟΗΜΩΡ1-ΔΦΥ, 63ΔΧΩΡ1-Ψ4Ξ, ΨΓ9ΘΩΡ1-7Υ9 · Imera: 13/7/2026, 18/7/2026, 20/3/2025, 22/1/2021.

Related: Citizens recycled, the Municipality did not (article 323, English) · "Waste collection by a private contractor" file (in Greek) · Skopos landfill: fine tracker

Translated from the original Greek article.

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