In 2025, 55% of all household waste should be sent for sorting. The European Union has set this goal for the participating countries. Will Cyprus be able to meet the deadline? There are conflicting information coming from different departments.
Green Party MP Charalambos Theopemptou posted a photo of a waste sorting plant on his X network account with the caption “Recycling scandal - they throw everything in the Koshi landfill and save thousands of euros.”
Theopemptou explained that from January 1, all of Cyprus is required to sort recyclable waste, and organic waste must be collected separately. “By 2025, we must achieve 55% of waste sent for recycling. But for now we continue our scam,” wrote Theopemptou.
The Phileleftheros publication reported in its material that sorted recyclables collected from households end up in a landfill in Koshi, and not at a waste processing plant. As a result, the level of recycling of recyclable materials from Nicosia, Larnaca and Famagusta does not exceed 15%.
In response, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a statement saying that the sorting rate was reaching 60%, not 15%. According to the department, the company Green Dot, which is responsible for sorting waste, approached them with a request to use the landfill in Koshi. This happened after a fire destroyed the Ecobalance plant in Geri in July 2023. Green Dot collects 75,000 tonnes of recyclables a year, but less than 10,000 tonnes of packaging is sent to Koshi for recycling.
The only other licensed PMD processing unit remains Barracuda in Limassol, which is only able to service Limassol and Paphos.
However, Phileleftheros clarified in response to this statement that waste arriving at Koshi is indeed first sorted. But then they are dumped back into household waste, since the plant does not have a separate line for recycling them.
The text was prepared based on materials from Cyprus Mail.
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