The “pay as you throw” scheme, wherein people are forced to pay for special issue rubbish bags to have their rubbish collected, will cost each consumer between €150 and €250 per year, Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the House environment committee, she said that figure is “higher than what each household currently pays” for waste management, and that it includes both the fee payable to municipalities for waste collection and the cost of the special issue rubbish bags.

“The experts at the environment department estimate that this is the initial cost that there will be until people start properly sorting their rubbish at source,” she said, adding that it is a “very good system”.

At a previous meeting, she had said the scheme is a “European Union obligation” and that it “should have been implemented last summer” with committee chairman and Green party MP Charalambos Theopemptou saying on Wednesday that the relevant European directive “dates back to 2008”.

“We must finally start managing waste properly. No technology can separate waste as well as at home, and the one who separates it should have the benefit,” he said.

He added that if organic waste and recyclable material were removed from people’s bins, “less than half would be left in regular bins and the systems at Pentakomo and Koshi would be able to work much better”.

To this end, he said the problem is “that for many municipalities and villages, the revenue they make from waste collection is the only thing residents pay”.

He also pointed out that Cyprus is falling further behind EU targets as time goes on.

“We had a goal in 2024 from the EU to recycle 50 per cent of our waste. We did not achieve it. In 2025, the goal is 55 per cent. In 2027, it will be 70 per cent. If this system is not implemented, we will not hit any of these targets,” he said, adding that “difficult days are coming” if those targets are not met.

Disy MP Prodromos Alambritis elaborated on this, saying Cyprus’ government may be issued fines by the EU if it does not hit targets.

At a previous meeting, Panayiotou had said the scheme had been included in her ministry’s list of “immediate actions” for 2025.

Despite these intentions, she said that only one municipality introduced a pay as you throw scheme in 2024 – the Aradippou municipality – but that after 12 municipalities and village clusters implement the scheme this year, a total of 21 local authorities are expected to do so in 2026. Aglandjia has had the scheme in place for several years.

She then moved on to the matter of the scheme’s cost, saying her ministry has allocated a total of €25 million for its rollout.

This figure covers the rollout of the scheme by local authorities until the end of 2026, with the money set to cover equipment, inspections, local information campaigns and provisions for vulnerable groups.

The equipment provided will include special bin lorries which will transport organic waste, as well as locks for bins, and vending machines for government-approved rubbish bags.