Cyprus lagging in reuse of recycled materials

Cyprus ranks 23rd among the 27 EU member states as regards the use of recycled materials in their economies.

According to Eurostat data on sustainable development goal 12 (SDG12) “Responsible consumption and production” for 2019, Cyprus recorded a rate of 2.9 per cent in the coverage of the economy with circular materials, at a time when the EU average is 11.8 per cent.

The sustainable development goals or global goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

The sustainable development goal 12 ‘Responsible consumption and production’ calls for action on all fronts concerning the environment.

Monitoring SDG 12 in an EU context focuses on progress made in decoupling environmental impacts from economic growth, in fostering the green economy, and in tackling waste generation and management.

The circular material use indicator measures the share of material recovered and fed back into the economy – thus saving extraction of primary raw materials – in overall material use.

The circular use of materials is approximated by the amount of waste recycled in domestic recovery plants minus imported waste destined for recovery plus exported waste destined for recovery abroad.

A higher circularity rate value indicates means that more secondary materials substitute for primary raw materials thus reducing the environmental impacts of extracting primary material.

The Netherlands tops the table with 30 per cent while in the last places are Romania and Ireland with 1.3 and 1.6 per cent respectively.