Î•ÎVIRONMENT: Cyprus prepares legislation for â€œPay as you throwâ€

Cyprus is preparing the legislation to promote “Pay as you throw” programs in local authorities, with the competent government department unveiling in November two regulations for public consultation.

According to Costas Hadjipanayiotou, the Director of the Department of Environment, the two regulations concern the new strategy for municipal waste management and the prevention and reduction of waste.

While explaining their importance, Hadjipanayiotou noted that adopting the two bills is a precondition set by the EU for funding all co-funded programmes in relevant areas in the 2014-2020 period. Following the public consultation, the bills will be submitted first to the Cabinet and then to the House of Representatives.

He was speaking during a consultation event with journalists, in Nicosia, in the framework of the project “ReThink: Reduce- Reuse-Recycle”, which is funded by the EU programme LIFE+.

Addressing the same event, the President of the House Committee on the Environment Adamos Adamou expressed the wish that the “ReThink” project will deliver the results expected, in order for Cyprus to lower its ranking among the EU`s greatest waste producers.

Head of the European Commission Representation in Cyprus, Giorgos Markopouliotis noted from his part that Cyprus produced 19% more waste in 2000-2010 compared to the previous decade, while other European countries were decreasing their waste by 1%.

Commissioner for the Environment Ioanna Panayiotou said that the EU predicts 580 thousand new jobs in the effort to achieve its new waste targets, adding that this will also lead to an increase in competitiveness.