In 2028, permanent decisions are expected to be made regarding waste management infrastructure in Cyprus for the coming decades, while interim solutions totaling €162 million are being pursued for Kosi and Pentakomo, while the waste landfilling rate currently stands at 65% and must be reduced to below 10% by 2035, as reported on Thursday to the Parliamentary Audit Committee.
During the session, which examined potential responsibilities for the failure to establish adequate waste management infrastructure and Cyprus’s continued reliance on municipal waste landfilling, the Director General of the General Directorate of the Environment at the Ministry of Agriculture, Kostas Konstantinou, stated that waste management, as it currently stands, is one of the most significant problems facing Cyprus today.
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As he explained, plans are being considered to upgrade the Koshi Waste Treatment Plant by adding a third treatment line, so that the facility can remain operational for another seven to nine years. He also noted that the budget for the upgrade amounts to approximately €100 million, while for Pentakomo, the cost of the interim solution is estimated at €62 million.
At the same time, he mentioned that a study is currently underway regarding the existing infrastructure throughout Cyprus, the existing problems, and the possible scenarios for permanent solutions, adding that permanent decisions for the coming decades will be made in 2028.
Regarding Kosia, he noted that the facility, which has been in operation for 16 years and receives approximately 190,000 metric tons of waste annually, has reached the limits of its operational capacity. He added that the situation worsened after 2018, when, following the closure of Kotsiatis, it began accepting waste from the Nicosia District as well.
Regarding Pentakomo, he noted that the contract with the contractor was terminated by the government in 2023, while a police investigation is currently underway; therefore, he could not provide further information. He did mention, however, that since the Water Development Department took over the facility, the situation has improved significantly.
Mr. Konstantinou also referred to the uncontrolled waste disposal sites in Kotsiatis and Vati, for which the Republic of Cyprus has been found in violation at the European level, and the process of determining the penalty is currently underway. As he noted, following the closure of these sites, waste from the Nicosia District was transferred to the Kosia Waste Management Facility, and waste from the Limassol District to the Pentakomo Waste Management Facility.
As he stated, Cyprus must reduce waste landfilling to below 10% by 2035 and increase recycling to 65%. At this stage, he said, we are at 65% in terms of waste landfilling, while in terms of recycling, we are at 16%.
The Director General also noted that the “pay-as-you-throw” system will be implemented in phases, with the first phase involving charges for mixed waste to create an incentive to reduce it, followed by the management of organic waste in the second phase, and uncontrolled disposal sites in the third.
Next, the Senior First Technical Inspector of the Audit Service, Evangelos Theodoridis, stated that the Service has been monitoring the issue over time, with the first relevant report issued in 2014 and the most recent in 2022. He referred, among other things, to the contracting process and the disputes with the contractor for Kosia, as well as the extensions that had been granted, noting that a new report is expected by 2027.
On behalf of the Office of the Commissioner for the Environment, spokesperson Gianna Ioannidou conveyed the Commissioner’s recommendation that, in future planning, District Local Government Organizations (EOA) to establish environmentally friendly waste management facilities, through which energy could be generated and revenue secured.
Subsequently, representatives of the EOAs expressed their concerns regarding the transfer of waste management authority to them. The Director General of the NEA in Nicosia, Konstantinos Parmaklis, stated that the Ministry of the Interior has recently proposed that the transfer of authority to the EOA take place in 2029, rather than on July 1, 2027, as originally planned. As he noted, there is also concern that, should the European Union impose fines on the Republic of Cyprus due to shortcomings in waste management, the cost may ultimately be passed on to local governments and citizens. Representatives of the Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos Environmental Protection Agencies also referred to the uncertainty regarding when and under what conditions they will assume this specific responsibility.
The representative of the Federation of Employers and Industrialists, Stella Parmaki, stated that businesses can help address the problem of waste management, noting that meetings have recently been held, particularly regarding the management of organic waste.
The representative of the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK), Dinos Nikolaidis, stated that the waste management problem has persisted for over 20 years and that the 2006 plan for Kosia did not yield the expected results.
The spokesperson for the Federation of Environmental Organizations of Cyprus (OPOK), Efi Xanthou, argued that there is still no comprehensive waste management system in place, expressing concern regarding the imposition of taxes on citizens.
Subsequently, the committee’s vice chair and DIKO MP, Chrysanthos Savvides, gave the floor to the committee members to express their views on the matter, with DISY MP Andreas Konstantinou asking whether there are plans to establish sorting facilities, a question to which the Ministry’s Director General replied in the negative. At the same time, the MP noted that, based on his experience as a former mayor of Aglantzia, it is very difficult to collect organic waste, and the culture of Cypriot citizens must be taken into account. He also raised, in response to a question from DISY MP Giorgos Pamporidis, the issue of the government’s plans regarding fines that may be imposed due to non-compliance with European obligations. In response, the Director General stated that fines are imposed on the state by the EU and that responsibility is not shifted elsewhere.
AKEL MP Christos Christofides noted that “Waste management in Cyprus is not merely an environmental failure; it is also a case of squandering public funds, inadequate oversight, and the constant shifting of costs onto the citizen,” referring specifically to the Pentakomo OEDA scandal and to findings by the Audit Office.
Subsequently, AKEL MP Nikos Kettiros stated that “the crime was organized from the outset by the state itself,” while demanding answers regarding allegations that waste declared as recyclable was ultimately sent to landfills.
ELAM MP Evgenios Hamboulas argued that a separate government agency is needed to manage waste, noting that “in recent years, the Ministry of the Interior has been arbitrarily shifting responsibilities onto departments of its choosing.”
ALMA MP Odysseas Michailidis stated that from 2005 to 2013 there were plans for four facilities, which were abandoned, arguing that the plans that followed were not implemented to the extent originally envisaged.
In remarks following the session, the Committee’s Vice Chair and DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvides said that in Cyprus we have been operating for more than 25 years “as followers rather than leaders,” noting that plans from 2006, 2013, and 2019 were abandoned.
He also stated that “there are not only political responsibilities, but also administrative ones,” arguing that Cyprus is paying fines and losing European funds.
“Cyprus really is a garbage dump. Every day, garbage dumps are popping up like mushrooms, putting the environment itself at risk—an environment we have mercilessly damaged in recent years,” he added.
AKEL MP Christos Christofides said that “in Cyprus, citizens pay three times for waste,” arguing that they pay for the construction of treatment facilities, for fixing their failures, and ultimately for the disposal of the waste.
At the same time, he noted that in 2024, 78.5% of the waste that was processed ended up in landfills, while the European average is approximately 23%. Furthermore, as he said, recycling accounted for 14.2%, composting for 4.4%, and energy recovery for just 2.9%. “Cyprus generated 688 kilograms of municipal waste per resident,” he added.
ALMA MP Odysseas Michaelides argued that the plans of recent years have failed and described the situation as “a tragic case of incompetence in handling a very serious problem”, noting that taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill.
ETEK spokesperson Dinos Nikolaidis also made statements, noting that the investigation commissioned by the government and entrusted to ETEK regarding waste management was submitted in 2023, and has been under investigation by the police since 2024. He added that “we are currently landfilling 90% of our waste, not 65% as is officially stated, taking into account 100% landfilling in Paphos, the 80–85% landfilling rate in Larnaca, and the same percentage in Limassol.”
Finally, Efi Xanthou, speaking on behalf of OPOK, stated that “our government has failed in waste management,” while calling for the implementation of a “pay-as-you-throw” system and an investigation into any criminal offenses arising from the findings.
Source: KYPE
