Filenews 24 April 2022 - by Andria Demetriou
Cypriots may appear year after year to be more sensitive to the issue of household waste management and especially to the issue of recycling, but our country still has a long way to go.
However, regarding the recycling of packaging (PMD, Paper, Glass), materials collected and recycled by Green Dot Cyprus, according to the results of the European Statistical Service (Eurostat), our country ranks 11th in Europe. This is because Green Dot Cyprus follows the Belgian recycling model, with door-to-door collection, which is considered one of the most efficient recycling systems and is the first in Europe.
According to a green dot survey, for recycling rates in Cyprus (owned by philenews), in the Nicosia district the highest recycling rates have the Municipality of Aglantzia, whose residents produced 64.10 kg of recyclable materials in 2021 (average per inhabitant). The Municipality showed an increase of 55% compared to 2020 when the kilos per inhabitant was at 41.40. It is followed by the Municipality of Engomi with 46.95 kg per inhabitant in 2021 compared to 50.95 kg in 2020. In third place is ranked the community of Pera Chorio and Nisou which produced 41.84 kilos per inhabitant in 2021 and 39.20 kilos in 2020.
In the table below, the areas of Nicosia district are presented:
In Limassol, the first community with a difference in packaging recycling is Agios Tychonas, where in 2021 a total of 130.56 kilos of recyclable materials were produced per inhabitant with an increase of 60%. It should be emphasized that the community of Agios Tychonas ranks first because it produces large quantities of glass (hotels). In second place follows the Municipality of Germasogeia with 78.39 kilos and in third place comes the community of Parekklisia with 63.30 kilos. It is worth noting that the community of Parekklisia and Pyrgos of Limassol were included in the packaging recycling program of Green Dot in November 2020.
In detail, the table with the areas in Limassol:
In the Larnaca district, the first municipality in packaging recycling is Livadia with 42.83 kg per inhabitant for 2021, followed by Larnaka Municipality with 39.94 kg and Aradippou Municipality with 33.60 kg.
In the pafos district, the community of Kissonerga is first by far with 100.33 kilos of recyclable materials for 2021. It is followed by the community of Tala with 66.24 kilos and Chlorakas with 46.72 kilos.
Finally, in the famagusta district, the first place is held by the Municipality of Deryneia with 49.43 kilos per inhabitant in 2021, with the Forest of Achna following with 38.29 kilos and the Municipality of Sotira in third place with 34.28 kilos.
Great interest of the public
As far as Cypriot citizens are concerned, it appears that a percentage of 41% of the respondents expressed a very high interest in environmental issues, while 46% showed enough interest.
At the same time, 88% responded that they recycle plastic bottles, containers and bags in their home, while 57% recycle paper.
The Green Dot
Green Dot was founded in 2003 and is the first collective recycling system approved in Cyprus and is a non-profit organization. To date, it has 1312 active members- companies, which have delegated the responsibility for the collection and recycling of the packaging they place on the market to Green Dot and pay recycling fees totalling €4.2 million. euro. At the same time it serves 28 Municipalities and 62 Communities thus covering 83% of the population.
Speaking to philenews, the General Manager of Green Dot, Mr. Marios Vrachimis, said that according to the plan of the organization's geographical expansions, in 2022 the six communities of the Lythrodontas Complex, the 13 communities belonging to the Solea complex, the communities of Lympia and Pissouri, Avgorou and the Municipality of Paralimni will be included in the door-to-door packaging recycling program. With the inclusion of the above communities and municipalities in the recycling program of Green Dot, the coverage of the population will increase by 4%. At the same time, the plans of the geographical extensions for 2023 include the communities of Kolossi, Trachoni and Erimi, with the coverage of the population increasing by 1.50%. That is, by the end of 2023, the Organization will serve almost 90% of the population.
As Mr. Vrachimis mentioned, the categories of packaging collected by Green Dot are three: PMD, paper and glass. PMD and Paper packages are collected door-to-door from the sidewalk of the houses every week, after citizens first place them in the special transparent and brown bags respectively, which can be obtained from supermarkets. Also, the paper can be tied to a package or placed in cardboard boxes. This means that there is no need for a recycling bin outside the houses.
The CATEGORIES OF PMD and Paper may also be collected from the special blue buckets for the PMD category and brown for the paper category. These bins are placed only in large apartment buildings, schools, public buildings and commercial premises, where there are usually large quantities of recyclable packaging. These bins must be used exclusively by citizens who work or live in the above buildings.
Glass is the only material that is not collected from citizens' homes. In central points of all municipalities and communities there are placed special green bins of "bell type" and citizens are asked to carry their glass packages in these special bins. Through green dot's free application "Recycling CY'" the public by typing their address can find not only the nearest glass recycling bin, but also the day of collection of recycling from their area, information on how to separate their packaging at home, which packages Green Dot collects and activate a reminder for the day of collection from their home.
As Mr. Vrachimis mentioned, after collection the materials are led to sorting units in which the materials are separated according to their category and forwarded for sale to recycling plants abroad.
The problems
As Mr. Vrachimis pointed out, there are three serious problems facing the Agency. The state has not yet implemented an institutional framework that helps the effort to recycle packaging, as neither mandatory sorting at the source nor a system "I pay as much as I throw", which was implemented by the Municipality of Aglantzia with very positive results, has not yet been implemented by the state. At the same time, many liable companies do not register in the system, so they do not comply with their legal obligations, while the discussions on the regulations under consultation for the possible implementation of a guarantee system put the viability of Green Dot at risk.
