The project for recreational yachts is already providing important conclusions

Once again, a pilot project that is implemented for the first time in Greece proves to be effective and promising! “Recycle your Sail”, a program developed in Santorini in collaboration with the Municipal Port Fund of Thira and the support of PepsiCo Hellas, is aiming at informing and raising awareness among the ownersof recreational yachts and visitors.

The project is implemented in collaboration with 13 companies operating in Santorini and promotes the sorting and proper management of waste through special bins that have been placed in 23 vessels. The results and conclusions from the pilot phase are extremely promising, given that -within only 3 months- 35.000 recyclable materials have been collected from the participating vessels.

However, the added value of the project is not related only to the collected materials; it is about the successful cooperation among local stakeholders and the feedback we receive from both visitors and yacht owners, who consider this effort as highly innovative and effective, along with the contribution of the Municipal Port Fund of Thira that ensures the safe transfer of recyclable materials to the Sorting Center of Recyclable Materials of Santorini.

Considering these results, one can only think that the awareness and active participation of all stakeholders in the tourist industry is an inescapable necessity for the conservation of the marine environment. In that respect, our organization believes that this project could be a model for the implementation of similar practices at national and European level.