Areas around the capital have been turned into illegal tipping sites as residents and rubbish collectors are dumping home and construction waste in fields and riverbeds threatening the environment and public health.
Moreover, the government has come under fire from MPs and Municipalities for doing nothing to rectify the situation.
Illegal landfills have been created in Mallounta, the farming area in Dali, Tseri, Yeri and near the abandoned mine in Astromeritis, while several neighbourhoods in Nicosia have seen home, garden and construction waste pile up in fields.
Trucks have reportedly been unloading rubbish in non-designated landfills while the Environment Department has indicated that waste from homes, construction or demolition sites should be transferred to a designated waste treatment facility in Dali, which is still awaiting licensing.
Talking to the Financial Mirror, Green MP Charalampos Theopemptou said the issue is getting out of hand as tens of these landfills are popping up around Nicosia as the state just sits back and watch.
“Cyprus has an obligation towards the EU to set up units which will treat and recycle solid waste from homes, construction and demolition sites.
The House passed a law foreseeing the creation of such facilities, with the government intervening and allowing such facilities to be built next to quarries, encouraging the owners to apply for licenses,” said Theopemptou.
Until February, all construction waste was transported by skip to the Kotsiatis landfill, outside Nicosia, at a gate fee of up to €8 per skip.
However, Kotsiatis, like all landfills, had to be closed down, after the state was hit with hefty fines from the EU for not complying with a relative directive. Cyprus was forced to pay 13,000 a day for each landfill still in operation.
The abrupt closure of all landfills on 1 March this year meant that all home and construction waste would have to be transferred to what was called an Alternative Processing, Management and Final Disposal Unit.
As the Green MP explained, the state gave quarry owners licenses to collect solid waste on the promise that they would buy the necessary machinery and equipment and set up such facilities.
“While the government gave out licenses to these businesses to collect solid waste, the quarry owners did not keep their side of the bargain.
Until today they have not bought the necessary machinery and are just burying the waste in their quarry, while the government has not bothered to check whether they have bought the equipment,” Theopemptou said.
He added that these quarries have a responsibility to restore any damage caused to the area by their activity.
Cover up
“What is to stop these quarries from filling the holes they have dug up with waste, burying it with sand and planting a few trees to cover it up?”
Waste at one such facility in Mitsero had caught fire about a month ago, which is still burning, indicating that something else is amongst the rubble.
“For a fire to be burning after a month, there must be gas produced from organic waste like food,” said Theopemptou.
He said this is an indication that the Cypriot mentality is hindering the proper collection of construction debris.
“A skip owner leaves a skip outside the construction site which he collects at the end of the day. Residents upon seeing a skip outside their door, rush to throw any waste they have from food to furniture.
The owner will deliver the materials collected to the treatment facility, without knowing what is actually in his skip.”
The Green MP noted that at the moment, Nicosia has only one construction waste treatment unit with the required machinery.
But the Dali-based facility is still awaiting its final licensing, with the government not appearing interested in promoting the creation of other units by offering incentives.
Nicosia Municipalities have complained that the government has left local authorities to handle issues caused by the closing of landfills alone.
In their statement, they said the eight Green spots set up in the capital are far from enough and not easily accessible for the majority of Nicosia residents.
“This encourages people to dispose of solid waste at non-designated spots in residential areas,” reads the announcement.
The Municipalities have asked authorities to step in and control prices imposed on skip owners by facilities set up to treat solid waste.
Cost of renting a skip stood at €60, while after the closure of the landfills, it has risen to €200, because of high prices imposed by the treatment facilities.
Skip owners had held a demonstration on 2 August over the high costs of delivering collected waste to the only facility in the district of Nicosia with machinery to process construction waste.
According to them, they are being charged €150 euros per skip, which means that they would have to charge clients €250 from the previous rate of €60.
Municipalities are also calling on the government to perform checks on units licensed to collect solid waste, to obtain proof whether the facilities are actually in a position to recycle solid waste and do not intend to bury or burn it.
Meanwhile, the Environment Department is calling on citizens to report any illegal disposal of solid waste, warning offenders that they could be fined up to €4,000.
Illegal disposal of solid waste in non-designated landfills could put the country in more trouble with the EU. Cyprus is already in the EU’s black books regarding environmental issues.
Offenders include professionals, tasked with disposing of solid waste, prefer to dump it at non-designated sites as they claim the costs are too high for them to transport the waste to the only official solid waste treatment facility.
Illegal landfills popped up after the EU ordered the closure of landfills such as the one in Kotsiatis and Koshi, under a directive that obliges member states to burry only a 30% of their solid waste, as of 2025 it will drop to 10%.
The Agriculture and Environment Ministry said it is working on temporary solutions which will bring down the cost of transporting and disposing of solid waste until the facility in Dali is fully operational.
It will also increase efforts to encourage the creation of more disposal units.
