The amendment bill and the relevant regulations that would introduce a municipal waste landfill tax were voted down by the majority of the Parliament.
Essentially, the regulations provided for the imposition of a fee of €10 per tonne of waste sent to landfills by the end of 2027, with a gradual increase of €5 per tonne per year from 2028 up to a maximum of €70 per tonne.
It is noted that the issue was part of the green tax reform and aimed to reduce the percentage of municipal waste ending up in landfills from about 68% today to 10% by 2035, in line with European targets. At the same time, it was a milestone of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and a condition for the disbursement of €23 million from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Positions of MPs
The chairman of the Environment Committee and ELAM MP, Linos Papagiannis, said that they were given the margin of just three sessions to approve a new end. "We are not going to give our approval to this new tax that the citizens will undertake without there being any logical follow-up on how the problem will ultimately be improved," he added.
Taking the floor, the MP of the Direct Democracy, Giannis Laouris, said that the protection of the environment is not negotiable, however he described the bill as sketchy and incomplete. We disagree with the urgency procedure, he stressed. He noted that the executive power for the second time in two weeks is bringing such a serious piece of legislation to the last one, pushing for an immediate vote under the state of urgency. Direct Democracy voted against the bill and called on the Government to submit a comprehensive five-year plan.
Odysseas Michailidis from ALMA, spoke of "a scandal that goes back to 2006 when Koshi's contract was awarded through photographic terms that led to a specific contractor. This was followed by the plans by ministers Neoklis Sylikiotis, Eleni Mavrou and Sokratis Hasikos, who provided for the construction of units in Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos. Suddenly the Department of Environment decided that we do not need any more units. The units in Nicosia and Paphos were finally cancelled and the unit in Limassol was promoted. The landfill fee we are voting on today is largely due to the fact that these units were not built due to the insistence of the Department of Environment that it had a way to sort at the source. The situation in Koshi is scandalous. The contract expired in 2020."
"We will vote against it because the infrastructure must be built first and then the Government must come before us for new taxation," he concluded.
In turn, Chrysanthos Savvidis from DIKO, said that "if we do not vote today, €23 million will be lost from the Recovery Fund. We will support this bill to give perspective. On the other hand, we have written on this issue to the Audit Committee so that we can exert pressure for the implementation of this plan."
AKEL MP, Nikos Kettiros, stressed that there is no infrastructure and the previous governments are also responsible. In closing, he said that "last week the President described us as anti-Europeans. We are not anti-Europeans because we disagree with his Government. On the contrary, he and his Government underestimate Europe itself when they use it as an alibi for every new tax they wish to impose on the citizens."
DISY MP Andreas Konstantinou said that the Environment Committee was belatedly and with limited time to decide whether to vote in favour of this taxation. "They told us that this tax will be returned back to the local authorities. We say that if we do not see the extra money charged in the 2027 budget as an increase in the state sponsorship, we will bring a new law proposal to abolish it. With this condition and as a position of principle regarding the money from the Recovery Fund, DISY votes in favour of the bill," he added.
The bill and regulations were rejected by 27 votes against and 17 in favour. Only DISY and DIKO were in favour, while the other parties AKEL, ELAM, Direct Democracy and ALMA were against.
Ministry of Agriculture: The decision makes it impossible to disburse €23 million.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment records as a particularly negative development the vote by the Parliament against the reform for the landfill fee, which was included in 2021 by the previous government as a milestone of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
In a statement, it states that the decision makes it impossible to disburse €23 million. European funding for separation at source projects and modernization of waste management by Local Authorities. With national co-financing, the total available resources would amount to approximately €48 million.
"The current Government has taken over a sector with accumulated problems, serious infrastructure deficiencies and specific European commitments. It took responsibility and, taking into account the suggestions of the Local Authorities, succeeded in reducing the fee from €35 to €10 per ton, i.e. to less than €1 per month per household, as well as postponing its implementation to the farthest possible point in time. At the same time, it secured additional funding for the Municipalities. Planning exists, it is specific, it has been presented to the Parliament and it is already in progress, with the assistance of specialized consultants, including JASPERS. Within 2027, a new contractor is expected to take over the management of OEDA Pentakomo. Those who are looking for pretexts cannot invoke the absence of planning, which did not exist before the current government," it is added.
Today's vote against, the Ministry continues, "does not cancel the government's planning. It deprives the Local Authorities of resources that they themselves requested, limits the tools for the modernization of waste management and once again shifts the cost of inaction to society and the environment."
"The Government will continue the implementation of its planning. Those who chose to vote against the reform must now explain to the Local Authorities and the citizens why they deprived the country of €23 million. European funding and total available resources of approximately €48 million", he emphasizes in conclusion.
