New Mayor of Athens in Paris to Observe City's Sanitation Techniques

Kostas Bakoyannis, the new mayor of Athens, took a lightning-quick visit to Paris on Monday, just one day after he was sworn in, to see how the French capital handles sanitation and rubbish collection, the City of Athens announced on Thursday.
Bakoyannis was at the sanitation depot in a central Paris district at 4:30 on Tuesday morning and stayed until late on Tuesday night. He closely observed the processes of waste collection, the cleaning of roads and sidewalks, the emptying of bins, and the removal of graffiti.
The new Athens mayor also showed a great interest in the French capital’s recycling methods and the equipment used in all of the city’s sanitation processes.
Paris is a city which faces many of the same challenges as Athens, including a large number of visitors and many historic monuments and buildings.
The Athens mayor’s visit concluded with a meeting with the Paris municipality official in charge of sanitation and cleanliness, during which they discussed all these issues in detail.
The two men agreed that the sanitation services of the two cities will remain in contact in order to further support the Athens municipality’s efforts to ensure that the city is clean and pleasant for residents and visitors.
Athens is facing serious sanitation and aesthetic issues, including graffiti, which is seen on many of the city’s buildings. These problems sometimes create an unpleasant atmosphere for both visitors and residents.
The new mayor of the Greek capital has pledged to ameliorate the image of Athens, beginning with issues regarding garbage collection and the sanitation of public places.