Recycling in Heraklion is entering what can only be described as an administrative nightmare.
The current contractor responsible for collecting recyclable waste will end on January 24. Under normal circumstances, that would trigger the next step: a new competition, a new contractor, continuity. Instead, the Municipality of Heraklion has hit a bureaucratic wall—one that, inconveniently, does not collect plastic waste.
Without an approved municipal budget, the city cannot legally announce a new tender. Which means the municipality’s hands are tied, and recycling collection could suddenly become a do-it-yourself operation.
And yes, it is as chaotic as it sounds.
We Will Try to Do It Ourselves
Speaking to neakriti.gr, Deputy Mayor of Cleanliness Giorgos Tsagkarakis admitted that the municipality will attempt to handle recyclable collection internally if the contract expires without a replacement contract in place.
“We will try to handle the collection of recyclables ourselves,” he said, acknowledging that, under current conditions, this will be difficult, but insisting that the sanitation service will do its best to carry it through.
The Other Problem: Staffing Is a Revolving Door
At the same time, the Cleanliness Service is dealing with what feels like persistent staffing instability.
Last week, 80 contract workers left as their contracts ended. This week, an equal number of contract workers is expected to take their place—meaning the service avoids a total staff gap, but at the cost of constant turnover and re-adjustment.
Tsagkarakis stressed one small piece of good news: among the incoming workers are four drivers, which is critical because the municipality will likely need to cover six driver positions specifically connected to recycling operations.
If you are trying to run a city’s waste management with an endlessly rotating workforce, drivers are not a luxury. They are oxygen.
Private Contractor for Cleanliness: Moving, But Not Yet Official
This is happening as Heraklion prepares for a new “chapter” in cleanliness: the engagement of a private contractor to assume part of the sanitation responsibilities.
According to the report, the contractor has already submitted the required documentation—except for certain items that take longer due to procedure (for example, a criminal record certificate, which often requires time for issuance).
The following steps include formal verification of documents, followed by review by the Audit Council, whose approval is the necessary “green light” before the agreement becomes final.
If that approval arrives quickly, it could offer much-needed relief in an already overloaded system.
If it drags? Heraklion will be expected to keep everything clean while running on overtime, duct tape, and optimism.
The Real Risk: Recycling Is the First Domino
In city operations, recycling is always the first thing to collapse when budgets freeze. Because it is often outsourced, it relies on scheduled logistics and is heavily dependent on drivers, routes, and timing.
But once recycling stops, the domino effect is familiar:
- bins fill faster
- illegal dumping increases
- neighbourhoods get angry
- sanitation teams get crushed
- and the city’s “tourism image” becomes a joke
The timing could not be worse. Heraklion does not have the luxury of a “messy week,” because the city is not just a residential hub — it is a gateway. Cruise visitors, airport arrivals, bus groups, hotel guests, and independent travelers pass through the city daily, and the first thing they notice is not a museum or a restaurant menu but the streets. Overflowing recycling bins, scattered packaging, or delayed collection do not register as “municipal paperwork problems.” They register as neglect. In a tourism economy, cleanliness is not cosmetic — it is reputation. Once a destination becomes known for filth, the damage outlasts the crisis.
