The European Union is “closely monitoring” the waste management situation in Cyprus, European Commission Director-General for the Environment Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea said in a letter published on Thursday.

He referred to the fact that the commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Cypriot government on the matter in 2021, saying, “in that case, the commission considers that Cyprus has breached the waste legislation as it has failed to ensure that waste is subject to an adequate treatment before being landfilled.”

Additionally, he said, Cyprus “has also failed to establish an integrated and adequate network of waste management installations for mixed municipal waste, including installations for the treatment of waste before landfilling.”

He also referred to an EU early warning report issued last year, which said Cyprus risks missing recycling targets set by the commission for the year 2025. The commission had set targets of 55 per cent of municipal waste and 65 per cent of packaging waste being recycled by 2025.

Another target set by the EU was that no more than 10 per cent of municipal waste be sent to landfill by 2035.

Ciobanu-Dordea said the report found that the rate of municipal solid waste being recycled in Cyprus in 2020 was just 16.8 per cent – a figure way short of the EU targets. He also said that at the same time, a total of 67 per cent of municipal waste was being sent to landfill – over six times the EU target maximum.

“The early warning report for Cyprus recommended the extension of the separate collection at source to all population, coupled with awareness raising campaigns on how citizens can prevent waste and improve waste segregation at source,” he said.

He then added that the report had also recommended the implementation of “economic instruments,”, including a “pay-as-you-throw” scheme and the introduction of a landfill tax.

His letter was written in response to a letter sent to the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal Marios Sefcovic by Chlorakas Environmental Association chairman Andreas Kyriacou.

Kyriacou had warned of “very serious problems” and a “miserable situation” regarding waste management in Chlorakas, the wider Paphos district, and Cyprus as a whole, adding that the government has “no respect for citizens, their livelihoods, or their health”.

His complaints centred on images of overflowing bins and rubbish being left near them on the streets, with this causing “dirt and odours which endangers our health and that of our children”.

“We constantly complain and the authorities do nothing”, he added, saying he had attempted to contact various local and national government offices regarding the matter but received no satisfactory response.

“We the people, the taxpayers, pay all these government officials to serve us, the people, and they obviously seem incapable of doing their duty and taking up their responsibilities,” he said.