Filenews 16 October 2021 - by Angelos Nikolaou
The project "Sorting at source in Mountainous Cyprus" provides for the independence of the wider mountainous area from the need to transport waste to urban centres within the framework of a zero-waste generation approach. It is, in fact, a project of national importance with a budget of €1.5 million. through which mountain communities will implement separate collection, reuse and recycling programmes, thus significantly reducing the amount of waste that currently ends up in landfills. Therefore, the movement of garbage trucks coming and going to the waste management units in Pentakomo and Koshi will also be reduced.
The project is part of the big shift of the economy towards green growth and the Circular Economy. It is expected to involve 178 communities with a total population of 45,000 permanent residents. It is noted that all the communities of the central Troodos mountain range (113 Communities) and the population of the region 28,000 permanent residents, while it will be extended to a number of other 65 mountain communities with a population of 17,000 permanent residents. The extension includes mountain communities of the Districts of Pafos, Larnaca and Nicosia.
The objectives of the whole project are to promote the transition to a circular economy, to improve waste management, to increase separate sorting at source, reuse and recycling, to establish separate collection of organic waste and to reduce the total quantities of municipal waste that end up in landfills.
The proposed measures include the provision of composters to serve houses and commercial premises, the installation of centralized composting units, the provision of bins for sorting at source, as well as an information, awareness and training campaign through an integrated programme.
It is planned to establish a separate separate collection system for at least streams of organic waste, recyclables, textiles, WEEE, batteries, bulky.
According to estimates, about 30,000 tonnes of mixed waste currently ends up in treatment plants from mountain communities. Therefore, with the installation of composters a very large percentage corresponding to approximately 5,000 - 6,000 tons concerns organic waste.
The next steps in the framework of the project are the contact with the Local Authorities of the study area to inform and discuss the solutions for the rational management of recyclable and organic waste, which will be proposed through the study carried out within the framework of the project. At the same time, in the coming months a public opinion survey will be conducted to identify the degree of information and awareness on the issues of rational waste management of the residents of the area.
In the context of environmental protection and human health, priority has been set, among others, for the rational management of municipal solid waste with the general objective of preserving natural resources and a specific objective of the practical treatment of waste management problems.
The European Strategy on Solid Waste sets as a priority "waste prevention and the promotion of reuse, recycling and recovery, with the ultimate goal of reducing environmental impacts". The transition to a circular economy is a key priority for the European Union, as the aim is to contribute to waste prevention, a significant increase in the recycling of municipal and packaging waste and the phasing out of landfilling.
The circular economy package includes amending legislative proposals on waste that set clear and high waste reduction targets and establish an ambitious long-term process for waste management and recycling.
Management focuses mainly on waste for which relevant Community legislation applies, such as municipal solid waste. One of the main requirements of the Framework Directive is to take measures to promote separate collection in order to promote improved waste recovery and achieve high-quality recycling. The promotion of separate collection and separate collection of waste is a directly linked and imperative obligation of national and Community legislation to achieve specific targets (quantitative and qualitative).
A prerequisite for the achievement of these objectives and the establishment of separate sorting at source and separate collection is the adoption of efficient actions for the creation of new effective infrastructure, the strengthening of existing and environmental education / training of the stakeholders, with the main protagonist being the Local Authorities and the citizens.
Promotion of separate collection
The Department of Environment, in the context of the implementation of the actions for the promotion of separate collection mentioned in the Municipal Waste Management Plan, is implementing a project for the implementation of a separate collection of waste paper, plastic, metal, glass and organic / biological in the mountainous / semi-mountainous areas of Cyprus, entitled "Implementation of a Sorting System at source in Mountainous Cyprus".
The Director of the Department of Environment, Kostas Hadjipanagiotou, during the presentation of the project and the actions that support it to the Local Authorities, mentioned that it is part of the wider Program of T.Al.E.I.A (Foundations of Change, Prosperity, Equality, Development 2021-2027), and includes measures and actions for the establishment of sorting of recyclable waste at the source, as well as the separate collection and utilization of organic / biological waste near the source of its production.
According to the Minister of Agriculture, Costas Kadis, this project is expected to act in complementarity with the "I pay as I throw" system, which is expected to be implemented on a nationwide basis, soon. With everyone's support, he said, the project is expected to contribute to the protection of human health and the environment, to the reduction of waste, to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to the preservation of our natural areas from the uncontrolled deposition of all kinds of waste", stressed the Minister.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Klelia Vassiliou, wishing to highlight the importance of the project, underlined "that in recent years we have witnessed wrong practical ways and approaches, as well as difficulties that arise due to the particularities of the mountainous areas". According to the Commissioner, we should "be practical, but also give space to specialisation and innovation, give beneficial solutions creating another opportunity for our wonderful mountain communities".
The Commissioner for the Development of Mountain Communities, Costas Champiaouris, stressed, among other things, that the improper management of solid waste can have a significant negative impact on public health, the environment and the economy. In particular, for mountain communities, due to the particularities of their areas, the problems are growing and the Communities are burdened with exorbitant amounts for the management of their Solid Waste".
The President of the Union of Cyprus Communities, Andreas Kitromilidis, as a representative of the stakeholders, dwelt on the new concepts that enter our lives with the "Circular Economy", saying that the participation of the Union of Cyprus Communities in the Project "Sorting at Source in Mountainous Cyprus" with the co-financing of the European Union, aims at supporting the efforts of the State to achieve the goals set in waste management.
