New waste fees from 2027. The more you throw away, the more you pay

From 1 January 2027, a system will be launched throughout Cyprus in which the amount of waste collection fees will depend on the amount of waste thrown away by the household. The principle is simple: those who sort better and produce less mixed waste should pay less. The problem is that local governments claim the state wants to launch reforms before preparing the necessary infrastructure.

The Cyprus Association of Municipalities is warning about one problem in particular. At the beginning of 2027, residents will still not have a universal system for separate organic waste collection. Food waste will therefore continue to be collected as mixed waste, which residents will be charged for based on the volume.

What does “I pay for what I throw away” actually mean?

The Cypriot name for the system is "Πληρώνω Όσο Πετώ", abbreviated as POP. In Europe, similar solutions operate under the English name Pay As You Throw – PAYT.

The idea can be reduced to one principle:

The less mixed waste you throw away, the less you should pay. The more you produce, the higher the cost.

Today, the amount of the garbage collection fee is not directly related to whether a given household puts out one or several bags a week.

The new system aims to change this.

This does not mean, however, that a garbage truck operator will stand with a scale in front of every house.

The method of calculating the fee may vary. One possibility is special paid bags for mixed wasteTheir price includes part of the cost of waste collection and management. Another solution could be a system based on containers and the quantity or volume of waste disposed. The national model has not yet been finalized.

The example is already working in Aglantzia

You don't even need to look beyond Cyprus for examples.

The system has been operating for several years in Aglantzia in Nicosia.

Residents use special purple bags intended for waste that cannot be recycled. The cost of such a bag covers not only the bag itself, but also the collection and management of the waste contained within.

In practice, this means that the person who separates paper, glass, packaging and other recyclable waste needs fewer paid bags.

So he spends less.

This is a mechanism that is intended to encourage residents to separate waste.

But Aglantzia's experience also revealed problems

The pilot revealed something else.

Since there was no similar system in the neighboring regions, some residents started take your garbage to other parts of Nicosiato avoid using paid bags.

The city authorities admit this officially.

For this reason, the system has been modified and now the residents of Aglantzia receive a mandatory bill, and after paying it, they receive a number of purple bags corresponding to its value.

This is one of the reasons why the state wants the new rules to apply simultaneously throughout Cyprus.

Why is sorting profitable?

The assumption is that sorted waste no longer takes up space in a paid bag or mixed waste container.

Bottles and packaging are sent to appropriate recycling systems.

Paper is collected separately.

Glass too.

Therefore, if a household sorts its waste well, the amount of remaining waste should decrease significantly.

In Aglantzia, the official calculations of the system showed this relationship very clearly: a household that throws away everything at once needs significantly more paid bags than one that separates and composts part of its waste.

And here lies the biggest problem with the 2027 plan.

What to do with leftover food?

A large part of the household waste is organic waste.

Peelings, food scraps, fruit, vegetables and other biodegradable waste also take up space and increase the weight of the garbage.

In a properly functioning system they should be received separately.

Meanwhile, the Department of the Environment admits that universal separate collection of organic waste from households will not be ready on January 1, 2027.

One department representative described the possibility of implementing full bio-waste separation on every household by that date as unrealistic. Specialized garbage trucks, containers, infrastructure, and processing facilities are needed.

And this is exactly what local governments and the state are arguing about.

The Cyprus Union of Municipalities believes that this could distort the basic idea of the reform.

Residents will be given the opportunity to reduce their bill by segregating.

However, if he will not be able to return the leftover food separately, a significant part of household waste will still have to go into the paid mixed waste stream.

Local governments are therefore concerned that the system intended to reward people for reducing waste may in practice simply become an additional financial burden on residents.

The Association of Municipalities also accuses the government of announcing the deadline of 1 January 2027 without first reaching full agreement with local authorities.

First, hotels and restaurants

Organic waste is to be introduced into the system in stages.

In 2027, the state wants to start with the so-called large producers of bio-waste.

This includes, among other things:

• hotels,
• restaurants,
• hospitals,
• military units,
• other facilities producing large amounts of food waste.

Only later will separate collection of bio-waste be extended to households.

However, there is currently no single date from which each household in Cyprus will be able to dispose of such waste separately.

There is also no place where this waste is supposed to go.

The problem doesn't end with garbage trucks.

Organic waste collected separately still needs to be processed somewhere.

Existing private facilities have some capacity to accommodate additional material in the Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos regions. The greatest challenge is in the free zone of Famagusta District.

The state secured approximately 20 million euros for the creation of an additional organic waste processing plant.

But its location has not been determined yet.

And it is precisely this example that the Association of Municipalities cites as proof that the date for launching the entire system was set faster than the necessary infrastructure was prepared.

The state has 25 million euros for local governments

However, the government is not starting completely from scratch.

The investments needed to implement the system have been secured for approximately 25 million euros from the co-financed THALIA programme.

The money is to be used, among other things, for:

• new containers,
• special container closures,
• paid bags,
• system equipment,
• garbage trucks.

The problem is that individual local governments are at very different stages of preparation. Some have more advanced plans, while others are still working on feasibility studies and how the system will function.

Will we all be buying special bags from January?

This is not known yet.

And this is very important, because at this stage the Aglantzia system should not be presented as a ready-made model for the entire island.

The nationwide system under consideration may consist of two parts.

One part of the fee would be fixed and the other would depend on the actual amount of mixed waste.

In one municipality this may mean using special bags, in another it may be a system using appropriately equipped containers.

The final model has not yet been adopted.

Therefore, today we do not know a single price for a bag, a single annual fee or identical rules that could be given to the residents of Limassol, Paphos, Larnaca or Nicosia.

The deadline is already set, but the details are still missing.

And that is precisely what the current dispute is about.

The government wants to launch the system universally January 1, 2027.

Local governments respond: first show a complete plan, money, infrastructure and a precise division of responsibilities.

The Association of Municipalities has already requested an official meeting with the new Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment.

Local government officials emphasize that they do not oppose the principle of "you pay for what you throw away." They believe the reform could encourage residents to segregate waste and reduce waste.

However, they do not want the cost of the state system's failure to prepare was passed on to residents.

For the average household, the most important information today is this: the way of paying for waste disposal is to change fundamentally from 2027, but There is no final answer yet as to how much we will pay and how exactly the fee will be calculated in individual municipalities..

Source: Cyprus Union of Municipalities / Department of Environment / Politis / Philenews / Δήμος Λευκωσίας