Ten hotels in Cyprus, Greece and Malta took part in a programme to reduce single use plastics (SUP) which saw them reduce their use by 17 tonnes.

The Cyprus Hoteliers Association (Pasyxe) on Tuesday welcomed the SUPMed programme, saying such efforts maintain and further boost the tourism quality in Europe.

It was explained that the tourism sector accounts for one third of the monthly increase in waste generation during the summer, at a cost of €1,300 per tonne.

The hotels in Cyprus that participated in the programme are the Grand Resort, Atlantica Mare Village Ayia Napa, the Royal Apollonia and Radisson Blue Hotel.

The full results will be presented at Larnaca’s Radisson Beach Resort on October 31, under the programme titled Reducing the Consumption and Disposal of Single-use Plastics in the Tourism Industry in Cyprus, Greece and Malta.