A growing rubbish crisis in southern Corfu has raised serious public health and fire concerns, with huge amounts of waste piling up around residential areas, forests and schools.
Areas including Agios Matthaios, Moraitika and Argyrades face mounting rubbish as waste collection remains severely disrupted.
Residents say the accumulated waste has created an increasingly critical situation, with piles appearing close to homes, forests, kindergartens and primary schools. The rubbish has also attracted rodents and cockroaches, while the large quantities of waste increase concerns about the risk of fire.
In some areas, authorities have even used lime near kindergartens and primary schools in an attempt to address hygiene problems and control the presence of rodents.
The volume of rubbish remains particularly high because tourist activity continues on the island.
Why rubbish collection stopped
The crisis intensified on September 8, when a private contractor stopped collecting rubbish after the Court of Auditcancelled the Municipal Authority’s contract, ruling that it did not comply with the law.
Corfu’s municipal cleaning service has limited staff and resources and cannot meet the island’s needs without assistance from a private contractor.
The situation has become even more difficult because Corfu does not have its own facility to manage its waste. Authorities therefore need to transport rubbish off the island, including to Palairos, but that process has also stalled for the time being.
Residents say the island has now filled with mice and cockroaches.
They also point to the scale of the problem beyond the main roads. Two months ago, residents reportedly used a drone to document rubbish stretching for kilometres in areas away from the main road, where the extent of the problem would be less visible.
Residents are calling for an immediate solution, warning that every passing day brings more accumulated rubbish and intensifies concerns about public health, the environment and the risk of fire.
