Filenews 28 February 2024
Cyprus, and by extension taxpayers, will get into trouble when the EU finds out what we don't do about sorting recyclables, argues Green MP Charalambos Theopemptou.
At the same time, he warns that because in some communities not all homes will be charged for garbage collection, waste management will become economically unprofitable when the "pay as you throw" system is implemented. At the same time, many citizens who were prepared to comply with the directive and pay lower fees will have to continue paying more until the pay-as-you-fly system is implemented.
As Mr. Theopemptou explains, the recycling and recovery target we had to achieve by 2020 for household waste was 50% and for construction and demolition waste 70%.
He also observes that we had an obligation last December to start separate collection of organic waste (kitchen leftovers, fruit and vegetable residues, greens, etc.).
Cyprus' new targets for the recycling of municipal waste by 2025 are to recycle at least 55% of municipal waste by weight. By 2030 this target is to reach 60% and by 2035 to 65%.
In Cyprus, the following problems were identified regarding the implementation of such systems:
A) Now all houses pay garbage whether they have permanent residents or not. Therefore, in small communities especially, where many houses are empty, incomes for waste management will be dramatically reduced and will no longer be economical. For this reason, waste collection needs to be done in large complexes or large bins, rather than collection from home.
B) Part of the money we pay with the fixed annual charge of approximately €180 was also used for cleaning the streets and all public places, which is why special provision was included in the waste law.
Theopemptou says that all this has been known for more than six years and that is why a budget of €25 million was included in the Recovery Fund, while (based on the legislation) Local Authorities were given until the end of 2023 to prepare so that the implementation of the system will begin throughout Cyprus in July 2024. Unfortunately, Mr. Theopemptou observes, it appeared that only three municipalities will start at the end of 2024. The rest of the Local Authorities will take up to two years to respond, so they intend to table an amendment for all owners/tenants to pay a fixed annual amount of €180.
"We are constantly missing the objectives of the Directive and I don't feel that anyone is really interested in us doing a proper planning in advance", concludes Mr. Theopemptou.
