Fifteen Paphos municipalities and communities participate in recycling system

Fifteen municipalities and communities in the Paphos District are participating in the packaging recycling system managed by Green Dot, the head of the union of Paphos communities Michalis Nikandrou said on Tuesday.

In statements to Cyprus News Agency, Nikandrou said that according to data collected by Green Dot, half the households in Cyprus which Green Dot serves, are participating in the recycling programme and that from 2007 till 2016 about 400,000 tonnes of packaging waste have been recycled.

Recyclable packaging was separated into three categories, PMD, paper, and glass, adding that the PMD category included plastic bottles, dishes and bags, metal packaging, and Tetrapak type drink cartons.

The paper category includes paper and cardboard boxes, newspapers, magazines, flyers, and office paper, while the glass category includes glass bottles and other glass packaging.

Asked where the recyclable materials go, he said that after they are collected they were taken to two sorting units, one in Latsia and the other in Moni.

The materials are sorted at the units and sent abroad for processing. The only material that stays in Cyprus, he added, is glass, which is crushed and used as raw material in cement and other construction materials.

Recyclable materials is also sent to the green points, of which there are five in the Paphos district, in Paphos, Pegia, Polis Chrysochous, Koloni, and Ayia Varvara.

A mobile unit transports the recyclable materials and prunings from isolated areas to the green points. These are special areas with the proper equipment and staff, under the supervision of the landfill council, where local authorities and residents can take various materials which are sorted and sent for recycling or reusing.

The materials accepted at the green points are paper, boxes, glass, plastic, metal, wood, compound packaging, clothes, shoes, accessories, light bulbs, electrical and electronic equipment, edible fats and oils, batteries, prunings, medicines, cleaning material packaging, thermometers, mattresses, furniture, various waste materials and toys.

Another initiative was announced on Tuesday in the context of the project Rethink: Reduce- Reuse – Recycle which is funded by the EU programme LIFE+.

Akti project and research centre has launched the campaign ‘Zero waste beach’ in an attempt to tackle sea pollution.

As part of the campaign, various activities will take place in cooperation and coordination with dozens of businesses.

These enterprises, such as coffee shops, restaurants, kiosks, hotels, supermarkets and beach bars will voluntarily participate in a network that will take up actions for the protection of the sea and the coasts, in an effort to tackle the huge issue of sea pollution and beat plastic pollution.

Fifty recycle bins will be placed in pedestrian areas by the beach and an annual campaign will be launched to clean the shores. To this end, the project “Responsible coastal businesses network” by Akti will be reinforced and an effort will begin to count all the recyclable garbage that the participating businesses produce.

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