Nicosia, Cyprus. Parliament on Tuesday rejected government legislation to introduce a landfill tax on municipal waste, with MPs saying households should not face additional costs before waste management infrastructure and recycling systems are in place.
The regulations were defeated by 26 votes to 19, with Disy and Diko supporting the measure and Akel, Elam, Alma and Direct Democracy voting against it.
Proposed tax structure
Under the proposal, a landfill tax of €10 per tonne would have applied to municipal waste sent to landfill until the end of next year.
The charge would then have risen by €5 per tonne annually from 2028, reaching €70 per tonne.
Government position
The government said the measure was part of Cyprus’ green tax reform and was intended to reduce municipal waste sent to landfill.
It said 68 per cent of municipal waste is currently sent to landfill, compared with the European Union target of 10 per cent by 2035.
The government also said the legislation was a milestone under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and warned that its rejection could place €23 million in European funding at risk.
Parliamentary criticism
During the debate, MPs criticised successive governments for failing to establish the infrastructure required for modern waste management before imposing new charges.
Elam MP and environment committee chairman Linos Papayiannis said Cyprus continued to rely on landfill without the necessary infrastructure having been created.
Direct Democracy MP Yiannis Laouris described the proposal as “sketchy and incomplete”, saying no comprehensive long-term strategy had been presented.
Alma president Odysseas Michaelides said the debate showed “the collapse of the national waste strategy” and criticised the continued operation of the Kosi waste management facility through repeated contract extensions.
He said the proposal would unfairly burden citizens regardless of whether they reduced their waste or recycled.
