Filenews 4 May 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
An oversized shell, which "eats" recyclable materials, is the latest acquisition of Paphos province in terms of environmental management. It was preceded by the corresponding placement of recycling units in Kato Paphos and Geroskipou, the creation of an electronic platform by the Municipality of Paphos to promote the door-to-door collection process and the scientific involvement of the Centre for Studies "Akti", which showed that something is changing for the better in the city, as regards recycling.
The Municipality of Geroskipou, in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel in Cyprus and the Centre for Studies "Akti", proceeded a few days ago to the installation of an ecological artistic installation, on the municipal beach of Geroskipou, which will function as a huge bucket for the disposal and collection of recyclable materials.
The "Kochli", the work of the artist Elena Daniel, is an oversized artistic intervention of dimensions of six meters. Visitors to the beach will be able to deposit their recyclable waste in the "belly" of the shell, which the team of "Akti" will count and analyse, feeding its database. After sorting then the garbage will go for recycling.
This is the first formal cooperation between the three involved parties and the aim is to pursue a series of environmental actions, on the basis of a green agenda.
It was preceded by the cooperation of the Municipality of Geroskipou and the "Akti" with the placement of the "recycler" in the coastal area of the Municipality, as well as the cooperation of the Municipality of Paphos and Medochemie for a corresponding installation in Kato Paphos. Already, the huge creation has been emptied twice and from the count of recyclable materials placed inside it, it appears that it is being used by more and more citizens: 50 kg of plastic, 70 kg of paper and 200 kg of aluminum were counted and transported to the Green Point of Kolonis.
"We continue our efforts to promote recycling, but also to reduce waste that ends up in our coastal and marine space," say the initiative's pioneers and site managers.
These facilities for the disposal of recyclable materials are not the only initiatives being taken in Paphos to make a green policy more organised and systematic. For some time now, the new Recycling CY application has been in full operation, through which the citizens of Paphos can easily and quickly be informed about the day and time of collection of PMD materials (plastic bottles, containers, bags, metal packaging) and paper from their neighbuorhood and home.
This is what the officials of the Municipality of Paphos recall, in view of the recent new arrangements that have been made on this issue and which apparently have not yet become the property of the majority of the citizens. Citizens are reminded that they can be informed about the places where battery recycling bins are available, as well as a lot of other useful information, and that glass objects and second-hand clothing will now be deposited at the Green Point which operates in Moutallos/Chlorakas.
The Recycling CY app can be navigated in Greek and English and is available free of charge from the AppStore and PlayStore.
This is another innovative initiative of the Municipality of Paphos, in collaboration with Green Dot Cyprus, to promote recycling and ensure an environmentally friendly and public health management system for municipal solid waste. The platform was created by Green Dot and the Cyprus AFIS Organization.
KISSONERGA
And if Paphos had maintained until now the sad "privilege" of being the only city in Cyprus in which the institution of recycling was virtually not functioning, a neighbouring local authority has been delivering lessons of good and efficient environmental policy for years.
Kissonerga, although a few kilometres from the Municipality of Paphos, is "light years" away in the processes and in the consolidation of the philosophy of recycling. For another year, the third in a row, according to official data, Kissonerga took the lead in recycling in the province, while the Municipality of Paphos has remained virtually inactive in this regard for years.
This fact is highlighted in statements to "F" by the municipal councillor Mr Loizidis, pointing out that a few years after the differences and tensions that had been created between the Municipality of Paphos and GreenDot for the project, recycling in the city on the substance has never returned, until now when it has been decided to restore the campaign for the home collection of items to be recycled.
"Neither door-to-door recycling nor the operation of material drop points is currently being implemented in Paphos," he stressed. "In addition, the points with the bins that have remained in some areas, in essence now act as hotbeds of pollution, since other waste disposal points are created around them, while unscrupulous citizens throw in the special bins anything but recyclable materials".
Mr Loizidis stressed that a municipal authority and competent agencies and bodies should reposition this issue on a proper basis with the reintroduction of the programme in the near future, since it does not honour Paphos and its representatives the current situation.
On the other hand, Kissonerga succeeds in recycling among all local authorities. According to the latest official results sent by the recycling management company, Kissonerga continues to be first in recycling with an increasing trend and with a significant difference from the other local authorities in Paphos.
The success of the Community Council of Kissonerga in the institution of recycling, stressed the President of the Council, George Stylianou, is based on the ongoing enlightenment campaign which has successfully managed to raise public awareness of the importance of recycling.
"The results show that the collection of recyclable materials (PMD) per inhabitant in Kissonerga exceeds 13.5 kg, compared to other local authorities, with the second being around 10 kg per inhabitant," he said. "It is noted that the community of Kissonerga is the first local government organisation in Paphos to implement door-to-door recycling for five years".
Green Community
The first in waste management is not the only environmental specificity of the community of this western peri-urban area, however. The "Green Community of Cyprus" award in two categories has been awarded by the Cyprus Centre for Environmental Research and Education (KYKPEE).
In the relevant competition and evaluation carried out by the Scientific Committee for Evaluation in the presence of the Commissioner for the Environment, Clelia Vassiliou and representatives of all the cooperating bodies, Kissonerga received the "Green Community of Cyprus" award in two categories: Waste Management for the project "1st Community in Recycling" and Sustainable Energy Consumption for the project "1st Community in the implementation of an energy saving plan in road lighting (LED lights)".
The community leader, George Stylianou, stated that the award of Kissonerga as the "Green Community of Cyprus" is very honourable for the community and its citizens, since it is the result of targeted policies and coordinated enlightenment efforts implemented by the Community Council in recent years.
RESPONSIBILITY AND MARINE POLLUTION
Another targeted environmental move in recent months in Paphos province concerns tackling the problem of marine pollution and reducing garbage, especially plastics.
More specifically, 50 recycling bins were placed on two coastal pedestrian streets and more specifically, 25 recycling bins in the Municipality of Geroskipou and 25 recycling bins in the Community of Kissonerga. Recyclable waste is collected and transported to the Green Point in Paphos landfill, where it is separated and recorded by source, by the members of the Centre for Studies and Research "Akti". The quantity of recyclable waste estimated to be collected in the second year of the project will be at least 10 tonnes.
The aim of the research action is to encourage local authorities and the local community to collect and recycle plastic litter and improve collection infrastructure and reduction actions.
