Filenews 3 August 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
For a year now, with the tolerance and approval of the Department of Environment, recyclable materials collected from house to house end up instead of a licensed recycling unit for which Green Dot charges, at the Koshi OEDA unit, which under its contract is obliged to receive them free of charge!
As a result, it achieves 15% recycling in terms of recyclable materials that end up at the Koshi plant from the districts of Larnaka, Famagusta and Nicosia.
These decisions were taken from the summer of 2023 and specifically after 16/7/2023 and the total destruction of one of the two licensed recyclable waste management units in the area of Geri, with which the collective system of Green Dot was contracted for the transport and sorting of recyclables. The second unit is located in Moni and according to the agreement the materials of the districts of Limassol and Pafos are normally separated in this unit and sent for management abroad.
The recyclable packaging of the PMD category, which includes plastic bottles, containers and bags, metal packaging (aluminium and tinplate) and beverage packaging (Tetra Pak type), now end up at the Koshi plant, which are separated, but after being mixed again with mixed household waste, because in Koshi there is no clean current line for these materials.
The Packaging Recycling System of Green Dot Cyprus is the only Collective Packaging and Packaging Waste System in Cyprus and belongs to individuals.
It is noted that there is an agreement and approval between the OEDA Council and Green Dot, so that the plant in Koshi will receive Green Dot's recyclable materials by 30/06/2024. This date has expired, however, the recyclables still end up in the OEDA and there seems to be no intention to channel them to a specialized licensed unit.
Immediately after the fire in July 2023, instructions and provisional approval were given to the Koshi OEDA plant for the receipt of paper packaging waste and PMD from the collective system collected from the districts of Nicosia, Larnaka and Famagusta. It is noted that the Ecobalance unit that had been destroyed was the only licensed unit for the clean stream of PMD packaging that could serve the three provinces. First, the Department of Environment agreed on the emergency receipt of recyclable materials from the Koshi plant until 31/12/2023. Subsequently, additional approval was given until 31/1/2024 and then until 30/6/2024. The final approvals were always given by the Council for the Exploitation of Domestic Waste Disposal and Recovery Sites of Larnaka – Famagusta after the assurances given by the Department of Environment. The provisional approval is given until an appropriate solution is found to manage the recyclable materials collected by the system in an effort by the Department of Environment to find alternatives to prevent house-to-house recycling.
It is noted that the granting of approval by the Department of Environment took into account the extraordinary circumstances created by the destruction of the unit that received the recyclable materials from Green Dot. However, this temporary need became permanent to facilitate the privately licensed system that did not proceed to the conclusion of a new agreement with a licensed unit or its own own construction for the processing of recyclable materials. To this end, permission was granted to the plant to receive and manage packaging waste for paper and PMD materials.
The recyclable materials received by the Koshi OEDA plant pass through the mechanical sorting lines where mixed waste is separated. In this line, the recyclable materials are separated and exported.
It is noted that in any case large quantities of recyclable materials were received by the unit and as part of the mixed waste which was recycled. Recyclable materials are exported for recycling by OEDA Koshi, which should be noted that it does not charge Green Dot for recyclable materials as part of its contractual obligation with the state. On the contrary, if the recyclable materials ended up in another licensed unit, Green Dot would pay for their receipt. It is emphasized by the Department of Environment that although recyclable materials enter a mixed waste line, however, due to the optical separators, good separation of recyclables is achieved, while the residue is buried in the landfill of the unit.
However, this means that the extra waste removes the useful volume of the cell and therefore its life limit not for the municipal waste it was manufactured, but for the residues of Green Dot.
It is noted that for a year now, the Department of Environment and Green Dot have been examining the possibility of receiving recyclable materials from private units. According to the Department of Environment, it was found that the only licensed unit that can receive PMD packaging today is the unit of Barracuda Intertrade Ltd, which manages the recyclable packaging collected in the districts of Limassol and Paphos. According to the Department of Environment, Barracuda does not have the necessary capacity to receive the quantities of the other three provinces. Therefore, the immediate installation of temporary pre-sorting equipment at the Koshi OEDA Unit was put forward as an interim solution, which has not been done so far.
At the same time, the collective system, according to the Department of Environment, will proceed with the construction of its own unit in Nicosia, which, however, is expected to be operational in about two years, taking into account the time required for its licensing and construction.
Last February, Green Dot submitted to the Department of Environment a work schedule to resolve the problem. The planning foresees the installation of temporary pre-sorting equipment as a medium-term solution and then the creation of a permanent management unit for recyclable materials in Nicosia. According to the timetable, Green Dot must make every effort to install the temporary equipment within the Koshi OEDA unit, which should be ready to become operational in June 2024. De facto, this timetable has expired without any result. According to the timetable, the cost of installation and operation of the equipment will be covered by the collective system of Green Dot, while the Department of Environment will ensure the acceleration of its licensing.
It is noted that the Larnaca – Famagusta Household Waste Disposal and Recovery Sites Council ceased to be the management body of the plant as of the end of June 2024. The Council gave approval for the provisional acceptance by the Koshi plant of recyclable materials collected from the districts of Larnaka, Famagusta and Nicosia until 30 June 2024, when the collective system was expected to put the temporary sorting equipment into operation. It is emphasized that based on the agreement, Green Dot submits on a monthly basis detailed data on the quantities of recyclable materials received from the unit and the quantities separated and exported for recycling in order to control the management of these materials.
