A City of Athens pilot recycling program has gained the support of residents as Athenians appear to be sensitive to environmental issues, leaving municipal authorities to negotiate with companies on how they can extend the scheme, sources said.

In May, the City of Athens launched a five-month recycling scheme using bins where consumers could discard any one of four materials — glass, paper, aluminium or plastic. Some 15 bins offered the conscientious consumer a reward in the form of either money or a special coupon. Another 200 regular bins were also used, each in a different color depending on the material that was in it for recycling.

Sources told Kathimerini that the City of Athens is now in the process of holding talks with companies in order to broaden the environmentally friendly program across the city and place another 100 to 150 recycling machines — which offer a reward — and another 2,000 regular bins.

During the test run, more than 13 tons of recyclable material were collected every month from the bins, preventing the rubbish from reaching the city’s landfills.

Greece has been slow to adopt recycling-friendly schemes and as a result has been the target of environmental groups as well as the European Union.

In August, Greece was among the countries rapped by the European Commission for failing to implement policies that will ensure that at least half of its packaging waste is recycled by 2008.

The municipality’s efforts have been applauded by residents. According to a recent survey, about nine in 10 Athenians believe that the need for recycling has become more urgent while about 45 percent said that they took part in the pilot schemes run on a weekly basis.