Most packaging that Green Dot collects is sorted here and sent abroad. Now the government is putting €4.8 million into waste collection, with most of it going toward picking up food scraps separately.
You put the cereal box and the empty milk carton out for recycling. But where do they end up?
Green Dot Cyprus says the paper, plastic, and metal it collects are sorted on the island and sent abroad for processing. Glass stays here. It’s crushed and used to make cement and other building materials.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved €4.8 million to help local authorities improve waste collection from 2027 through 2029. Most of that money, €3.3 million, will help councils collect and handle food scraps and other organic waste separately. Another €1.5 million will help communities collect and transport recyclables.
For households, that could mean putting potato peels and leftovers out separately instead of tossing them in with the rest of the rubbish. In 2024, nearly four out of every five tonnes of municipal waste handled in Cyprus went to landfill. About 14% was recycled, and just over 4% was composted.
The funding is also meant to help councils move toward Pay As You Throw, a system in which what you pay depends on how much general rubbish you put out. Agriculture and Environment Minister Christos Senekis said the funding would help ease costs for households during the switch. He gave no date for a nationwide rollout, saying it depends on when local councils are ready.
