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50% of recyclable products sent to Koshi are being landfilled in the cell at the factory there, while recyclables from Limassol and Paphos, at least in recent months, are being exported abroad for management, stated the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Environmental Committee and AKEL MP, Nikos Kettirou, in remarks made on Wednesday following a discussion on the operation of the Green Dot collective recycling system.
According to Mr. Kettirou, the waste management situation in Cyprus has reached its limits.
"The Ministry knows how to make plans and present them nicely, but the problem is that they do not have the ability to implement these plans. We’ve been told that the study on what will happen with Nicosia’s waste will take a year to complete—an entire year—while garbage continues to be buried in Paphos, while garbage continues to be buried in Pentakomo, and while garbage continues to be buried at the Koshi plant," he noted.
"The ‘pay-as-you-throw’ system is confirmed to be unfeasible. Meanwhile, they want to impose green taxes," he concluded.
On his part, DISY MP Prodromos Alambritis said that the integrated strategy for waste management is still at the level of studies and designs, adding that, in essence, there seems to be no progress and that a large portion of recyclable materials are being landfilled in Koshi.
"There are serious problems in managing part of the waste, especially the PMD. Koshi, where part of the recyclables are transferred, is suffocating, and today we had the admission that a third cell might be needed there," he noted.
According to Mr. Alambritis, solutions applied in other countries can be implemented here, with one suggestion being a deposit-return scheme for waste, which is already in use elsewhere.
"A solution must be found so that all producers participate in the collective recycling system, and the Ministry must find a way to make this happen. The Green Dot network also needs to be expanded to cover all areas of Cyprus. We call on the Government to take responsibility for coordination, control, and oversight, ensuring that waste ends up where it should," he concluded.
