Filenews 19 June 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment is attempting to put the permanent closure of illegal garbage dumps and the limitation of uncontrolled waste dumping in municipalities and communities in cooperation with all stakeholders.
Rubbish dumps that for years now operate with the tolerance and responsibility of the State. Environmental crime takes place because of the failure to enforce control. In addition to soil contamination caused by the presence of uncontrolled waste disposal sites (illegal landfills), there is a risk of contamination of the underground aquifer, as well as a risk of fire ignition.
A typical example is the large fire in the district of Pafos, where its starting point (location "Livadia tou Martis", territory of the village of Drynia) is a place where waste is deposited. At this point, an illegal rubbish dump has been found in which there are household effects, rubble and other garbage.
All this, as local authorities are unable to afford to remove garbage, while, at the same time, the government's pre-election commitment to create an environmental audit service is still pending. As long as illegal landfills remain in operation, the concern grows and the only way out is first the immediate rehabilitation of uncontrolled waste disposal sites and then the imposition of sanctions on those who continue to break the law.
Speaking to "F", the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, admitted that there is a problem with the presence of landfills, but also illegal dumping of waste that comes mainly from construction and demolition, so she asked for a comprehensive plan to be prepared which is in the final stage of preparation. He added that instructions have been given to intensify controls to limit uncontrolled dumping in the countryside as much as possible.
Where and where illegalities are detected, he said, local authorities are informed to comply with the law. In addition, he noted that "by the end of 2024, an Environmental Audit Section will be established on the basis of Nikos Christodoulides' governance program for more frequent environmental audits and implementation of environmental legislation. This is a very important development that will strengthen and improve environmental controls."
It is noted that following the Minister's instructions, the Department of Environment prepared a draft action plan to effectively tackle the phenomenon of illegal and uncontrolled waste dumping.
The deputy director of the Department of Environment, Theodoulos Mesimeris, said that the proposed framework of actions includes a cleaning campaign, implementation and enforcement of existing legislation, the closure and rehabilitation of uncontrolled waste management sites, the improvement of extended producer responsibility, the creation of an appropriate network of infrastructure and facilities for waste management and the implementation of good circular economy practices.
Mr. Mesimeris, speaking to "F", started from an admission: "Unfortunately, in Cyprus after the closure of the landfills in Vati and Kotsiatis in 2019, there was a huge increase in the operation of illegal sorting and storage sites, as well as illegal and uncontrolled dumping of waste in fields, streams and landfills. This highlighted the weakness in the implementation and enforcement of existing legislation and in particular in controls on producers and waste managers."
As a first action, Mr. Mesimeris records the immediate cleaning of illegal and uncontrolled waste disposal sites in municipalities and communities. He explained that in order to achieve this, coordination with the Ministry of Interior, the cooperation of all stakeholders and especially local government bodies is required. He added that only local authorities know better than all the places where illegal garbage is dumped. Therefore, he said, they must declare these sites to the Department of Environment and then, provided that the necessary funds are secured, a cleaning campaign will be carried out with state financial support.
"The campaign is divided into two levels: The first level concerns the heavy pollution points and will be cleaned immediately (autumn) by appropriate crews, after consultation with the local authorities, while the second level which concerns areas with milder pollution will be cleaned by groups of volunteers after consultation with the Commissioner for Volunteerism," he added. It is estimated that the total cost for the cleaning campaign will reach €3 million.
With regard to the implementation of the legislation, which is the second proposed action, the aim is the effective implementation of controls and inspections to impose dissuasive sanctions on those who break the law in order to have a deterrent effect. According to Mr. Mesimeri, this will be helped by the establishment of an Environmental Audit Sector, which is expected to be staffed by the end of the year.
Furthermore, he noted, the effort of controls and inspections for the prevention and effective tackling of environmental crime, for the protection of the environment and public health, was recently strengthened with the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Chief of Police and the Deputy Director of the Department of Environment. Among other things, the priorities of the two Services include the fight against illegal waste dumping and the strict implementation and enforcement of existing legislation.
€70 million for rehabilitation of 113 illegal landfills
The third action is the closure and rehabilitation of illegal landfills as well as their subsequent maintenance and care, for as long as the sites pose risks to the natural environment and public health. Nationwide, 113 illegal landfills have been registered, of which 49 illegal landfills have already been rehabilitated in the districts of Paphos, Larnaka and Famagusta. In October 2024, a contract will be announced for the rehabilitation of another 19 illegal landfills. The construction contract for the Vati projects is scheduled to be announced in Q2 2025. The rehabilitation of the Kotsiatis illegal landfill is in progress and the expected date of completion of the works is July 2025. The restoration cost totals €70 million.
Waste management by applying the polluter pays principle
The targeted application of the polluter pays principle towards effective management of specific waste streams is the objective of the fourth action. Based on the polluter pays principle, producers of products have extended responsibility based on the life-cycle approach of their products. Extended Producer Responsibility schemes are a set of measures to ensure that any producer or importer of products bears financial responsibility or financial and organisational responsibility for the management of waste from that product at the end of its life. The costs of collecting and disposing of waste should therefore be covered financially by producers through producer responsibility schemes. In this context, extending producer responsibility for bulky, construction and demolition waste will be explored.
The fifth action is the creation of a good network of infrastructure and facilities for waste management – reduction, reuse and separate collection measures. The aim is to create and implement an adequate network of infrastructure and facilities for waste management to help prevent the phenomenon of illegal and uncontrolled waste dumping.
The sixth action concerns the promotion of good practices in order to achieve the most efficient and effective use of recoverable aggregates resulting from the treatment of construction and demolition waste.
