Nicosia, Cyprus. Parliament’s rejection of legislation introducing a municipal waste landfill tax has put €23 million in European funding for waste management projects at risk, the agriculture ministry said.
The proposed measure was intended to help Cyprus meet European environmental commitments and unlock funding under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Proposed landfill charge
The legislation would have imposed a charge of €10 per tonne of municipal waste sent to landfill until the end of next year. The charge would then have increased by €5 per tonne annually from 2028, reaching €70 per tonne.
The agriculture ministry said the government had reduced the originally proposed charge from €35 per tonne to €10 per tonne following consultations with the European Commission.
Funding at risk
According to the ministry, rejection of the measure would prevent the disbursement of €23 million for waste management modernisation projects by local authorities.
Together with national co-financing, the funding would have created approximately €48 million in resources, the ministry said.
The ministry estimated that the tax would have cost households less than €1 per month, with an annual burden of around €10 per household in 2027.
Government and municipal positions
The ministry said the government had inherited accumulated problems, serious infrastructure deficiencies and specific European commitments in the waste management sector.
It said the plan had been presented to parliament and was being implemented with support from specialised consultants, including JASPERS, the European Commission’s advisory body.
Opponents argued that the tax would have shifted the cost of shortcomings in waste management onto households and municipalities before recycling and waste separation infrastructure had been established.
The Union of Municipalities welcomed parliament’s decision, saying local authorities and citizens should not bear the financial consequences of state failures to develop the required waste management systems.