The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation of potential misuse of ca. €12m in recycling projects in Greece. A set of recycling units, co-financed by the EU, were allegedly up to five times as expensive as market prices. Greece’s recycling rate of 21% still falls far short of the EU average.
Greece has a long history of difficulty with implementing EU laws on waste management. According to Eurostat, the municipal waste recycling rate in Greece in 2024 hovered around 21 per cent—that is well below the EU average of some 49 per cent.
However, it is not just that the southern European country performs very poorly in terms of waste recycling. European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is now investigating potential misuse of funding for so-called recycling centers. These were co-financed through EU’s Transport, Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development Operational Programme.
Recycling kiosks without control
The project under investigation is a set of so-called recycling kiosks built by a Greek company. These kiosks were distributed in several Greece’s regions including Athens and Crete. Local people can get money back for recycling plastic, metal and glass items in these kiosks.
An earlier report carried out by Greek auditors and commissioned by the EU found a number of irregularities regarding cost and managament of the above project. The auditors’ report indicates several problems with the operation of recycling centres (kiosks). It also mentions a total lack of control over what happens to the waste that has been collected. The current EPPO’s investigation bulids on the auditors’ report.
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EDSNA, the company responsible for waste management in the Attica region, has already been fined twice for non-compliance with the project rules.
Waste management performance remains poor
According to Eurostat figures Greece improved its standing from 24th to 18th among EU member states in waste management performance between 2018 and 2024. However, the country’s track record with recycling and respecting EU laws on waste remains poor.
Greece will most probably fail to recycle 55 percent of municipal waste and 65 percent of packaging waste this year. Such failures to meet EU’s environmental targets have already cost a lot of money. The 2025 Environmental Implementation Review shows that Greece has already sent to Brussels some €230m on fines for not complying with EU’s environmental policies.
