Background Halkidiki, a popular summer tourist destination, faces growing environmental pressure. Waste prevention, recovery and recycling become even more challenging during the peak summer season. Waste management is therefore a priority, but local authorities lack the necessary resources to build, maintain and improve appropriate infrastructure for this task. Local authorities are struggling to cope with technological, political and socio-economic developments. As a result, they are turning to the private sector and/or national waste management systems to (partly) outsource waste management and recycling operations. The project is the first organised effort for the implementation of recycling schemes in the region of Halkidiki. Only ad hoc alternative waste management activities had been implemented previously by individual municipalities (such as the Aristotle Municipality) and individual hotels in line with their environmental policy. Objectives The main aim of the RECYCLING SYMPRAXIS project was to study, develop and implement on a pilot level advanced waste prevention recovery and recycling schemes driven by local/regional, incentive-based public-private partnerships (PPP). Specific project objectives were to: Optimise existing or introduce new optimum waste prevention, recovery and recycling (PRR) schemes. Contribute to the wide use of new technologies, know-how and good practices developed under similar projects and initiatives. Stimulate long-term cooperation among local stakeholders (in the field of waste management). Improve the environmental performance of the mass tourism destinations and their local authorities and enterprises. Contribute to the formation of new regional policies and strategies on waste PRR. The project aimed to shape an integrated approach towards waste prevention, recovery and recycling tailored to the characteristics of the Halkidiki region. This approach would be easily transferable to other mass tourism destinations. Pilot schemes would prepare the ground for large-scale implementation, which will be operated by PPPs. Results The RECYCLING SYMPRAXIS project achieved excellent results in spite of having to cope with many difficulties, such as the ‘Kallikratis’ administrative reform, the financial crisis in Greece, disputes and mistrust among various actors in the collection, recycling and recovery of waste chain, and the lack of a C&DW collection system, which prevented C&DW pilot activity from taking place. The project team's efforts to overcome these obstacles and find alternative ways of achieving the project objectives and expected results are commendable. The objectives were mostly met, though several longer term aims could not be fully assessed at the end of the project. The pilot waste collection schemes for packaging waste, organic waste and WEEE surpassed the quantitative targets that were set in the proposal (except for C&DW). Packaging waste recycling schemes were implemented for the first time in the municipalities of Kassandra and Sithonia. PPPs were established between each of the municipalities of Kassandra and Sithonia and ELDIA (private waste management company) for the collection of plastic and metal in 2010 and plastic, metal and glass in 2011. In the Aristotle municipality, the existing recycling programme (outside the context of the LIFE project) – which concerns plastic, metal, glass and paper waste – was extended to the village of Stratoni in 2010, and was repeated in 2011, with the addition of another 35 bins and broader participation of tourist enterprises. Moreover, the quality of the packaging materials that were collected and recycled was very high, given that the schemes focused on carefully selected points of production (118 tourism businesses took part, a higher figure than the target of 100). A total of 98.3 tonnes of packaging waste was collected in the course of the project. It is considered that an increase of 20% in the recycling of packaging waste foreseen in the proposal was achieved (though no quantitative targets were set), given that limited recycling took place in the project area prior to the project. Quantitative results per waste stream were as follows: Glass – 50.2 tonnes Plastic – 18.8 tonnes Metal – 7 tonnes Paper – 22.3 tonnesFor the first time in Halkidiki, an organic waste management scheme was implemented. The creation of an open air composting site in Aristotle and the distribution of 10 composting bins to large hotels resulted in the processing of 65.8 tonnes compared to the target of 50 tonnes. Also for the first time in Halkidiki, a WEEE recycling scheme was implemented. Bilateral agreements were reached among the three partner municipalities and Electrocycle, for the organisation of three highly successful WEEE collection events. In addition a contract was signed between the PORTO KARRAS hotel group and Electrocycle. These efforts resulted in the collection of 30.9 tonnes of WEEE compared to the target of 10 tonnes. The target of collecting 100 tonnes of C&DW was not reached, however. It was not possible to set-up a pilot scheme for C&DW in the course of the project. Even though the Joint Ministerial Decision on C&DW was signed in 2010, no licensed national collection system has been established to date. Preparatory actions, which led to the design and implementation of the pilot activities, included the carrying out of high-quality benchmarking studies and the production of an excellent, very detailed document on the ‘Status of recycling and waste management in Halkidiki’, which determined the quantities and composition of waste produced both at the regional and municipal levels of the Region of Halkidiki, consultations with local actors and stakeholders, networking and discussion on PPP ventures. On the basis of these activities, scenarios (10 for packaging waste, four for WEEE, four for organic waste and one for C&DW) and detailed operational plans (three for packaging waste, one for organic waste, three for WEEE and one for C&D) were formulated. A substantial increase in the level of environmental awareness among all local stakeholders (local authorities, public institutions, private sector and local population) was achieved due to the project's networking and dissemination activities, stakeholder consultations and workshops. The project produced several useful guides: a compost guide for hotels; a guide for open-air composting; a waste prevention guide; a guide and handbook for integrated PPPs on waste prevention, reduction and recycling; policy recommendations; and a replication guide. These were widely distributed to stakeholders and will continue to be distributed after the project. More importantly, the project laid the groundwork for the future continuation of recycling activities for the waste streams addressed by the project. A meeting of all local waste management authorities, which was hosted by the Regional Authority of Central Macedonia, took place in March, 2012, after the project end, in order to conclude a common action plan on the promotion of recycling in Halkidiki. The Regional Authority asked the coordinating beneficiary for the policy recommendations that were developed by the project, in order to take them into account when drawing up a new Regional Master Plan for Solid Waste Management in Central Macedonia. The project team's policy recommendations primarily focus on the formation of a PPP and the construction of a Recycling Sorting Plant. Meanwhile, according to the reassurances given in the final report, the contracts between the municipalities and ELDIA on the packaging waste recycling schemes are likely to be renewed, while the organic pilot scheme is ongoing. In addition, the relevant parties have agreed to continue the WEEE collection events on an annual basis, while the contract between Electrocycle and PORTO KARRAS is ongoing. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).