Limassol Carnival generated nearly 30 tonnes of waste

Close to thirty tonnes of rubbish were collected from the streets following the Limassol Carnival celebrations last Sunday, according to the city’s mayor.

Speaking on CyBC radio on Wednesday, Limassol mayor Nicos Nicolaides said the city had witnessed an influx of 150,000 spectators on the 4km stretch of road designated for the parade alone, and around 30,000 vehicles had entered the city.

“The crews were at work and cleaned it all up as quickly as possible following the festivities,” Nicolaides said, adding that the amount of rubbish came to about 29.3 tonnes.

The city tries to sort and recycle much of the waste, the mayor told CyBC, without going into specifics.

“Many items are recyclable,” the mayor said, and are taken to a facility in Pentakomo to be processed. Asked whether anything more could be done, Nicolaides said the problem of Carnival waste was obviously unavoidable.

However, the mayor said, on the level of legislation something could be done to promote some “eco-friendly” products and spray cans, and ban others at the actual scene of the festivities, but more so at the level of permitted imports and sales.