Municipalities seek funding clarity before Cyprus waste charging rollout

Larnaca, Cyprus. Municipalities are seeking clarity on funding, infrastructure and outstanding regulations before committing to Cyprus’ planned pay-as-you-throw waste collection system, which is due to be introduced early next year after missing two EU deadlines.

Under the system, households will pay for special rubbish bags and be charged according to the volume of mixed waste they produce rather than a flat rate.

Waste reduction incentive

The environment department considers the charging model the most effective way to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.

Costas Constantinou, permanent secretary of the environment directorate at the agriculture ministry, told Politis that the system is intended to encourage households to produce less mixed waste.

“The most important thing is to create an incentive to reduce waste,” he said, noting that households generating less mixed rubbish would pay less.

Organic waste collection

Separate household collection of organic waste, which has been a legal requirement since January 2024, will not begin at the same time as the new charging system.

Officials said the collection of organic waste would instead be introduced gradually during the next year, beginning with large producers including hotels, restaurants, hospitals and military camps.

Regulations still need to define which businesses will qualify and whether municipalities or licensed private operators will collect the waste.

Municipal demands

Municipalities union chairman and Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras said he would not implement the scheme unless the outstanding issues are resolved.

Local authorities are seeking guidance on organic waste processing sites and associated costs, funding for equipment, the recruitment of inspectors and the licensing of the packaging waste system.

They are also requesting that annual state grants to municipalities increase from €117 million to €170 million, arguing that inflation and rising operational demands have exceeded current support.

Recycling expectations

Constantinou said recycling rates are expected to rise even without organic waste separation at the outset.

The materials expected to see higher recycling rates include plastic packaging, metal packaging, drinking cartons known as PMD packaging, paper, glass and textiles collected through green point schemes operated by Green Dot.