Newsroom
What was meant as a green gift to struggling households in Cyprus has, ironically, turned into an online marketplace.
Furniture, books, and even toilets collected from the island’s Green Points, centers set up for recycling and re-use, are finding their way onto popular websites, where they’re sold for profit.
Authorities say some residents show up at the same Green Spot two or three times a week, combing through skips and baskets for “free finds” they promised were for their homes. Instead, those sofas and tables are later spotted online with price tags.
“It’s supposed to help people who genuinely can’t afford furniture,” one Green Point staffer said, “not for someone to stock up on six couches and flip them.”
Two Green Points in Nicosia, in Malounta and Linou, have already tightened rules, setting aside special pick-up areas and limiting how much a person can take.
But the problem doesn’t stop at opportunistic resellers. Some contractors are also gaming the system. Instead of paying to dispose of waste from renovations or demolitions at licensed recycling units, they dump it at Green Points for free, or worse, charge unsuspecting customers, mainly the elderly, claiming the fees are from the Green Points themselves. Many pensioners only realized they’d been duped after calling to complain about “charges” that never existed.
There’s also a safety concern: electrical goods handed out from the skips can be faulty or even dangerous. Staff say they’ve seen people strip refrigerators and air conditioners for metal parts to resell.
Green Points were built as a solution, recycling hubs where waste could be reduced and struggling families could pick up a table or chair without shame. But as one official put it, “The line between helping people and being taken for a ride has gotten blurry.”
