Waste treatment in Cyprus is a ‘ticking time bomb’, MPs heard on Thursday as officials admitted that the system in place can barely cope.

Officials from the Environment Department described the Pentakomo treatment plant as a “ticking time bomb” when they took over from a private contractor.

The officials conceded that the situation “is still not optimal” but that it has improved.

Since December 2023, the government has entered into 180 contracts concerning equipment upkeep and repairs but also for the fire-protection system and environmental compliance.

For Pentakomo, authorities are now pushing ahead with a ‘transitional contract’ worth an estimated €62 million. This will involve management of the biogas, repairing the mechanical sorting system, upgrades to the biological leaching station, and installing a system that treats biodegradable waste to reduce odor, halt biological activity, and prevent harmful environmental impacts before final disposal or recovery.

Pentakomo covers the Limassol district since 2017.

Paphos continues to rely on a landfill where the waste is not previously treated.

The integrated waste treatment plant in Koshi – now operational for 16 years – covers Nicosia, Larnaca and Famagusta districts.

Its capacity comes to 190,000 tonnes annually. Old equipment is the major issue it faces.

For the Koshi facility, a separate transitional contract is in the pipeline, worth an estimated €100 million. The contract will concern repairs and partial upgrades. The tender will be published during the first quarter of 2027, with the contract anticipated to be awarded sometime in the third quarter.

Head of the Scientific and Technical Chamber (Etek) Dinos Nicolaides shook things up in parliament, saying that official statistics do not tell the real story about the state of waste treatment.

“Right now, we’re burying 90 per cent of our garbage – not 65 per cent as officials say. Considering the 100 per cent waste burials in Paphos, 80 to 85 per cent in Larnaca, and a similar percentage in Limassol, the average is about 90 per cent, if not more.”

Nicolaides also flagged the waste tips scattered across the island.

“You find them in forests, in ravines, everywhere. This is truly an ecological bomb waiting to go off, and we need to defuse it.”

For her part, the head of the Water Development Department said they undertook the responsibility to manage the facility at Pentakomo – a responsibility that was “way beyond our means”.

She added: “We did not achieve our environmental goals, but we prevented the sanitary time bomb exploding.”

Weighing in, Efi Xanthou of the Federation of Environmental Organisations accused authorities of embellishing the situation.

At the moment, she said, the waste at Pentakomo is “overflowing” and trucks are used to haul the waste to landfills.

“There are responsibilities for what’s happening right now, the sanitary time bomb remains.”

Cyprus, she added, is ready neither for the ‘pay-as-you-throw’ scheme nor can it meet recycling targets.

Director of the Environment Department Erikkos Elia said that under EU targets, Cyprus must bury less than 10 per cent of its waste by the year 2035.

He recalled that the European Commission has referred Cyprus to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to comply with the Landfill Directive.