Total annual cost of "Pay as you throw" for consumers €150-€250, Panayiotou says

The total cost to the consumer of the "Pay as you throw" scheme, including the fixed charge and the purchase cost of the special waste bag, according to the Local Authorities' sustainability studies, is estimated to be between €150-€250 per year at the beginning of the measure's implementation.

This was stated by Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Maria Panayiotou told the Environment Parliamentary Committee on 8 January.

In her statements after the committee's session, the minister said the "Pay as you throw" scheme is part of the strategy that has been developed for holistic diversification and compliance with the targets. "It is an obligation that Local Authorities have to ensure that Cyprus finally stops being in the negative lead in terms of waste volumes per household. For us, sorting at source is the best method to reduce waste and that is why we are here, alongside the Local Authorities, to improve any problems, address the challenges and help them along with a significant financial support of €25 million to implement the scheme."

Responding to a question on whether practices in other countries that do not use this system and use waste to generate energy could be considered, the Minister said that energy generation from management is something that is being studied anyway and is among the provisions being considered in the major sustainability study that will be launched in the next few days.

"What we have done and we are already in the process of implementing is, to look at the good practices and suggestions of various municipalities that have completed their studies, so that we can enable them to be more flexible and implement it more properly," she noted.

Responding to a question about the cost, which she said would range from €150 to €250 per household and is higher than what each household currently pays, Panayiotou said that this amount is the one shown by the sustainability studies that have been completed and submitted by the Local Authorities.

These amounts, she explained, "include both a fixed charge and a bag and the experts at the Department of the Environment estimate that this is the initial cost until the citizen start proper sorting at source" and added that "it is a very good system to reduce our waste and the philosophy is based exactly on what the name says, which is Pay As You Throw."

The Minister also referred to progress on contracts for upgrading municipal waste management infrastructure, "so that Cyprus can comply with climate and environmental targets for waste reduction, increasing waste streams and recycling rates and of course proper management". She noted that in January, the first awards will be made on the contracts currently underway.

(Source: CNA)